Gang of the City Samurai
by Doublebend
Summary: AU! New in the hostile city, Shiina Yuya finds herself thrown into a world where gangs rule. With reasons of her own she ends up joining one herself, and finds new friends, thrills of life, and love. Not only main characters in this fic! R&R!
1. Enter the Demon, plus the Girl

Disclaimer. Need I say more?

First fanfiction. Please R&R to convince me I'm not totally talentless!

I'm not sure how this story will turn out, but I'll try to make it a KyoxYuya. I am a yaoi fan, but that doesn't mean I'm going to add any in this story. Though there's a fifty fifty chance I might, but try to enjoy it until then. I'm not sure if I can pull it off, but oh, well, might as well try, right? On with the story!

* * *

The smoky, dark town emitted an eerie aura with it's chilling silence. The area was almost like a ghost town in the night, as no shadow ever passed the flickering lampposts, or walked the dim streets of this rundown city somewhere in Japan. The stillness stretched for hours into the night, until-

'Go away, you low lives!'

An unpleasant screech cracked across the peace, which the author had been steadily building. A waste of effort. A second later, a slight figure appeared from a side street, moving at an impressive speed. After a slightly longer pause, a small group of running forms followed the path the former person had taken. They all darted into a narrower street on the other side of the road, which was surrounded by two of the many tall, but plain, buildings that stood in the wide city.

The leading person does not stop, does not falter in anyway. Every once a while she passes below a shaft of dim light, her features showing up briefly as she does so. Slim, but fast, her sweating face was contorted, her light brown hair, which was tied into a ponytail, streaming out behind her. The tight skirt worn along with the red polo shirt restricted her movements greatly, and with only wooden sandals on her feet, she was slowed down seriously. Even so, she kept a considerable distance from the group of men chasing her, their yells echoing around the passageways and spurring her drive to outrun them on.

With this urge for survival increasing her speed more, she skidded around a corner, but halted in sudden shock. A tall concrete wall faced her, with another brick one and a building enclosing her on each side. She snapped to her senses instantly, and the thought of turning back to take another route crossed her mind- but she knew that the pursuing gang was closer than the chance of reaching another, this time unblocked, alley. Giving up on that idea, she rushed up to the small door that belonged to the building on one side of the encasement, and, without a second thought, started banging on it while yelling at the top of her voice.

'Let me in! Please, is anybody there? There're men after me! Help me!'

Suddenly, she heard hideous snickering from behind her. Whirling around, she saw a man with narrow, hooded eyes and a skimpy body, wearing a sickening grin that was obviously directed at her. As she instinctively withdrew towards the wall at the very back, he turned his head towards the only open street left.

'Aniki! You lot!' He shouted down the direction of the street. 'She's here, alright!'

Shuffling feet and excited mutters could be heard from out of unseen sneering mouths. From around the dark corner stepped out three men, two of them keeping behind the most heavily built one. The first man also moved behind, the picture of humbleness, to join the men standing aside for the one that looked their leader.

The girl, still panting, straightened up to look into the Leader's eyes, making defiant body language evident as they probably could not see her expression as clearly. Might have been for the best. 'What do you want from me?'

The men in the back sniggered, the Leader's grin stretched wide across his face. He had sallow, pale skin, which gleamed dully in the dim light emitted from around the corner. His eyes, Yuya saw, was little more than slits, and what could be seen of them were watery, but held an intense gaze. With sleek, long hair swishing behind his thin figure, he looked like a snake wearing human skin.

'You shouldn't be out on your own at night, little missy,' he hissed. The girl shrank away as he stepped closer. 'You're a new face, aren't you? Everyone in this here city knows this one, golden rule.' He continued his advance, hair a-swishing, heels of boots click-clacking on the concrete ground. 'This whole place is controlled by gangs...and you, missy, has unluckily ran into one.'

He licked his lips, showing a long, sharp ended tongue. 'Unluckily for you, I mean,' he added, almost idly, as he stepped closer. 'To us, though, you're like an honoured guest. We were just gonna go completely bankrupt, you know...'

He laughed openly at the girl's shocked face. 'What's your name, little miss?' he asked suddenly, stopping just outside the door of the building on the right.

The girl, perhaps offended by the sickening jokes, did not answer him.

The snake-faced Leader waited for a few seconds, through which silence travelled through the air. Realizing that she was not about to utter a word, he frowned in displeasure. 'It doesn't matter. What do we care about your name, anyway. All we want and need is your purse, kid, and if you give it to us _now_ we'll let you off easy. Don't tempt us,' he continued, as his opponent looked like she was about to retort. 'We're not above hitting you and stuff, you know. In fact, you have a rather fine body, and we won't mind playing with it a bit. So, miss,' The shadowed figure leered over her, what would it-'

But he was cut short by a dull slamming sound and a high yelp of pain- indeed, his own yelp. He scuttled backwards on his rear, towards his gaping pals. The alley was narrow, too narrow to dodge an opening metal door suddenly swinging their way, unless they had a very good sense of agility and had been able to flatten themselves against the opposite wall. Unfortunately, Snake-face did not and had not.

Yuya, taken by surprise at this turn of event, saw a sneaker and a jean hem step down from the raised step from where the door was hinged. Soon afterwards, a dark form of a tall, sleek man emerged from the other side of the open door. His back was turned from her, and most of his self was darkened anyway, but a dangerous aura still emitted from him, making the Snake- faced men shrink back (though they tried to hide it as best as they could, behind their Leader).

'My bad,' said a deep, cold voice. 'Didn't realise that somebody will be as dumb enough to stand in front of it.'

Pink patches appeared on the Snake-Face Leader. 'What was that, punk?' he hissed, his thin eyes narrowing even more. 'You want a fight with us? Well, let's do a head count here. You're one guy, stupid enough to take _us_ on as opponents. We are-' He turned back to his companions and, ignoring their cowering frames, pointed mockingly at all of them in turn while muttering a number under his breath. 'Four _real _men, and ready to beat you to a pulp if we have to. So,' he made to look back at the opposing figure. 'If you just lower your scrawny head and scuttle back inside, we'll let you go and have the gir-'

But he saw no man listening to his rant with a terrified expression and shaking body. Instead, his still turning cheek caught the blunt of a swinging fist as it came in contact with it, and Snake-Face had crashed into the wall, his literally flying body trailing after it in the air, crumpling down with him as he hit the ground underneath.

'Wha-' was all the girl could gasp out, sliding to kneel on the ground in shock, disbelieving of the feat she had just seen pulled right in front of her eyes.

'ANIKI!'

'How did he-?'

While his two brothers gawked at the sight of their Leader in a moaning pile of limbs on the ground, the third gave no hesitation in charging at the offending, still standing man.

'AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!'

If he had hesitated before running at the speed of a buffalo in the middle of a stampede, he could have thought of a better plan- like running away. In his eagerness to avenge the pride of his dear Leader, however, he ended up being picked off from the concrete ground in mid-run, and with his legs still kicking, his stomach was attacked continuously by the same fist that had hit his boss across the face. Said boss was delivered a flying package on his head as he was raising himself for another fight- both subordinate and Leader now lay groaning, barely conscious.

The man's head cocked itself to the direction of the remaining two. 'There's one of me and two stupid geeks left standing. I wonder who the odds are on, though?' It was still the same cool, uncaring voice, but the sneer was evident in it. 'If you aren't as brainless as you look, I suggest you pick the least messy way outta here. You could grab that lump of dough you call your _leader_, or...' he left the sentence hanging. Amazingly, the two who looked like they couldn't figure out how to use a spoon on yogurt if they were presented with some, got the basic idea. Probably not the pair who liked to take things steady, they each rushed to grab a body from the wall and were around the corner the next instant, their wails fading swiftly down the maze of alleys.

'Stop it, you morons! Get me back! I want to- that guy-'

'Aniki, he's a monster! We'll just go back and think up something to do, and, uhh...get some soda! Yeah! We know how much you like soda...'

After a couple more seconds, all was silent again. No signs of terror lurked the almost empty alley, not a trace of the scruff left, apart from the gently swinging door and some patterns in the dust below. As though nothing abnormal had ever happened.

The girl breathed out a sigh; it actually felt as though she had not exhaled since the gasp before. She looked up gratefully at her rescuer. 'Thanks so much, mister, I don't know what I would have done without you.' She picked herself up and dusted her skirt off. Having finished that, she put on her best award winning beam, and offered her ready-to-shake hand at the man in front of her, whose back was still turned to her. 'My name is Shiina Yuya, and if there's anything I can do to repay you from saving me, I-'

She broke off with another sudden intake of air into her lungs, also known as a gasp. For the man had finally turned- finally shown his face. And the first thing that Yuya caught was the gleam of bright, red eyes, eyes with the colour that was deeper than blood, eyes of one prepared to, or even desiring to kill- eyes, in short of that of a demon.

While it seemed impossible to her to have an eye colour of that sort at the moment, the next thing she caught was a flash of bright, white fanged teeth.

_(He must go to a really good dentist. But still, to have eyes like that....oh, contact lenses? I've seen them do that in movies, and they sell some pretty wacky ones over the net, too... it **does** have a nice effect, it might be what had scared those guys earlier. Do they have purple, I wonder?)_

While Yuya was busy fascinating over the red contacts, that man had spoken again. Surprise, it wasn't the chocolatey voice that fell her silent (although it did set her thinking), but the words that dropped out along from his mouth.

'Why would I want your name, bitch? I only came out here because you were making an earsplitting racket with your girly high shrieks, and I needed to rid my territory of those fags. Now, I better not see your ugly brute face around here after dark again, or I'll just let the next blind that you come across rape you and be done with it. Of course, I'll kick what's left of your ass outta this area after that, too. Now scat, I want to finish my drink in peace.' With that, he turns and disappears around the creaking door, not once twitching an eyebrow. The steel door slams against it's concrete surroundings.

As the final sound resounded along and over the tall walls of the paths, Yuya's form looked as though it had deflated of it's former confidence. Shoulders slumped, jaw hanging in front of her chest, she looked almost comical- comical, if her expression wasn't changing inch by God forsaken inch, from one of disbelief and to one of- well, it isn't hard to guess.

Finally, she snapped out of it, and went all the way through to her outraged, twisted face.

'WHAT THE HELL?! What was _that _for! Is it so wrong to try and thank somebody honestly for doing something that also benefitted me?! Well, I'll tell _you _something, it IS wrong to diss a girl like that when she was trying to be polite! Hey!' She yanked at the door furiously, but her efforts were all futile. it was locked from the inside again- possibly even bolted. Talk about rude. 'Get out here and answer me, you damn son of a- AAH!' In her fury, she kicks at the door, but accomplishes only in fracturing her big toe. Taking this momentarily pause as an advantage, the little voice that always speaks to mental people stepped forward to stop her from doing anything rash.

_He _did_ save you; you could have been seriously hurt if he hadn't stopped them, you know. You owe him that much._

_He called me ugly- and swore when I was trying to-_

_Hey, newsflash- you aren't exactly the Mona Lisa oil painting. And swearing is probably the least he could do to you, considering the stunt he pulled off on the reptile kids trying to mug you. Get over it like a real, mature lady will do._

_Ah..._Yuya straightened herself up from holding her still throbbing foot. 'Fine, then- I'll just take all that stuff you said as a trade for the help you gave me, like it or not! I'm going home now, and I hope I never see your stinky face ever again!'

_Ooh, yeah. Real mature. Lady, I ain't putting any bets on you again._

Snorting at her own mind's voice's comment, Yuya trotted quickly away from the blocked off alley, perhaps actually half afraid of being hit by an opening door. It didn't, and Yuya wasn't exactly sure if she was scared of it to do so or not, but she decided to take heed of at least one part of the man's insulting speech- after dark seemed to be nobody's friend, and gangs like the last one were probably not the most inviting thought at the time. Hurrying home, she prayed to nobody in particular that she won't meet the soda drinking crew- or something worse- and that she will never again find herself in a care of the offensive, impulsive, sick-to-the-bone young man.

She wouldn't, not for a while from now, but fate always has funny- often mocking- ways to weave past the certainty in the human mind. Then again, a lot of things in the world do, each entwining around and with each other, never once ending, never at the same point of time and events.

Take love, for instance.

* * *

DONE! First fic, (okay, I tried a couple more before on the Shakugan no Shana collection- not my favourite series in all honesty, but entertaining all the same. They got deleted by that 60 days thing- hands up people who thinks that it's annoying- but I might try them again later, in the distant future.) maybe not the best of my stories- I might have produced better ones for ENGLISH HOMEWORK, but I tried, and I actually got this one finished.

Reviews, PLEASE. I've already got the starting draft for the second chapter, but I would really appreciate some comments to help me out and/or keep me going. Summer holidays are coming soon, though, and while I can't wait to get out of school early (Don't exactly encourage swine flu all that much, though- some of my trips with friends got cancelled because of it) I won't be able to touch the computer for a few weeks. Guess I'll work on paper draft, then.

I'm actually not supposed to touch the computer NOW (It's like, twelve o'clock and going here right now. It's late for me, though I've faced worse, since I'm not exactly the over achieving student of my class. Except in Japanese, which is so easy for me I can't count all the times I've fallen asleep in it) but it's a useful way to let precious sleep time go by. Nocturnal much? I realise I said 'the author' a couple of times here- I had to use it to cover up these parts in Ch.2, which I'd written before this. I'll stop after Ch.3, it's annoying for everyone here.

Once again, REVIEW!

One more for luck, RE- alright, I'll go now.


	2. Enter the Drunk, plus the Sake bottle

Chapter 2! Starting on the same night I uploaded Chapter 1!  
I'm on the roll! (As payment for my lost two stories...*holds a funeral for them and makes a creepy promise to resurrect them someday*)  
And it will take many more nights till I finish this chappie, too, mark my words....I'll be counting the days just to entertain myself.

Sooo...Anyway, the usual procedures.

Disclaimer: Nada. All mine. JUST KIDDING, KIDDING! PLEASE DON'T HURT MEEEEEE!!!

Did I mention I love Yukimura? Then Sasuke? (You pedophile...shota-con.) But best is Yukimura and Sasuke together! (Yup...definitely a crazy yaoi fan. Best keep away from me if you know what's good for you.)  
But that won't stop you from reviewing- or at least reading- my fic, will you? ...Will you?

...nah, of course you won't. (勝手に決めつける。)

Enjoy! ...or at least try to!

* * *

Evening, and the dust milled up from the heated concrete roads, towards the burning sky. The last couple of crows on the move for the day flapped past, their din echoing through the empty streets. They faded out of earshot. Quiet ensued. Then-

'Ah! I can't believe it's so late already!'

It seems Shiina Yuya still had not learnt the lesson of staying indoors which the older inhabitants of the district now treats as second nature. Nor does it looks as though she has broken the habit of interrupting the author in mid-sentence.

Her rough sandals scruffing the grit on the pavements, Yuya hurried westwards in her tight, FcDonalds uniform. The words of the cheap-but-worthlessly-fatty fast food restaurant emblazed across her yellow shirted-chest in red were obstructed from view by an enormous paper bag filled with food products.

'Well, I'm nearly home anyway...and the closest supermarket was giving discounts on all expired products to workers at Fc! Just wait till I rise to cashier! Fufufufu...'

While the author mused on the value of this unnerving piece of information, and wondered just how poor Yuya had stooped to this level while the author was slacking off, said disgraced girl had reached her apartment on the second floor of her building.

However, just as she had wrestled her key out from the depth of her pocket, a sudden chill ran down her spine, freezing her in the act of unlocking the metal door and sealing herself back into safety. Instead, she turned, and found herself facing a group of three, lanky, snake-faced men.

'Hello there, miss,' hissed the Leader. 'Isn't it supposed to be good manners to invite guests in?'

The hand holding the key dropped to her side. 'Wha...How..'

'I assume you remember us, then!' Snake-Face Leader's soft hiss had risen to a frightening snarl. 'Then I guess you need no reminder to what we plan to do to you!'

Panting heavily from sheer pressure, Yuya took a step backwards. Her mouth opens, at first in a soundless scream, which slowly gained volume. 'A...Ahhhh! Please!' she cried, pleadingly, her voice reverberating through the landing. 'Somebody, please...Help me! Somebody!'

But perhaps she knew, subconsciously or not, that nobody will actually come for her, to save her...if, in fear of running into a fearsome gang at night, the people left the streets barren, and barred themselves in their homes, there was certainly no chance of anyone coming to her rescue when they knew that one of those gangs was actually outside their door...

Panic clouded Yuya's mind, and she retreated even further away from the trio. But as she did, they advanced three steps more than she, forever blocking the stairs she had only just climbed, so blissfully unaware of the danger she had landed herself in.

Chocking back tear of desperation, Yuya fumbled with a content in her giant paper bag- and drew out a small pumpkin. Giving all the strength she could muster into it, she hurled it straight at the Leader's confused face.

Being way overdue it's Best Before Date, the pumpkin smashed itself on Snake-Face with an albeit soft impact. Nonetheless, it's sticky and putrid insides smeared themselves on his protruding nose and chin, all the way onto his sallow cheeks (with a purple, nasty looking bruise on one of them) and into his eyes. While his companions gaped at the gooey substance like the idiots they are, he furiously wiped bits of pumpkin out from his narrow slits of eyes, in time to spot the end of Yuya's light- brown ponytail vanish around _another_ staircase at the other side of the floor.

_(Damn! How could I have been so stupid! There are TWO staircases in this apartment!)_

(A/N: Oh, yeah. Did I forget to mention that? Ehehehe......)

'Tsk! Never mind that...Oi! You morons!' he barked at his minions, who quit their drooling and straightened up immediately. 'Don't just stand there like a pair of blockheads! Go after her!'

And, with wild battle shrieks that caused the windows to rattle in complaint, the chase began.

Yuya was halfway across the apartment garden when the cries reached her. For being an irrational thinker and panicky at times, she was a fast runner.

Breathing heavily, Yuya headed for a short cut in the form of an alley (they sure have loads of this around the area, don't they?) to her right. While most common sensed readers may decide that here, Yuya was definitely _not _at her brightest, this was the route Yuya had taken for a week now to get to her fast food restaurant. The alley branched off into two directions- if, Yuya thought, she was lucky, then she could lose the three in here, double back home and lock herself in! The problem will be how to survive until then- _(Oh, well. Life's too complicated if you plan out every single detail. I'll work that one out later.)_

But, this planned appeared doomed from the start. For when the unfortunate Shiina Yuya took her first left turn, two more slit-eyed, slit-nosed, pointed faces grinned out from the dark at her own alarmed one.

Trying to make a run for the opposite side, she faced a couple more of the crude figures advancing towards her. All identical, in every sense of the word.

She was trapped.

The Leader chuckled harshly as he stepped forward, clicking his reptile skin-decorated cell phone shut. 'You, Miss, are not the shiniest scale on the hide. I think,' His sneer broadened, showing gleaming fangs in the dim alley light, 'You oughtn't struggle much anymore.'

As the rest of the men snickered along with their head, Yuya slumped against the wall, still clutching her bag of groceries. Her retching coughs beat the hushed, humid summer air. The Snake-Face Leader waited for her to finish, and, without a waver in his cruel grin, made yet another step.

'You know, Miss,' he said, almost conversationally. 'After that pink eye guy gave us one hell of a scary beating, I've been wanting to take my anger out at something' His eyes glittered strangely. One more step closer was taken. 'So I've hunted for you, Miss, to teach you a lesson.' Another step. 'So you see, Miss...This time I'm not after your money. I'm after your submission...or better yet...your life.' Now he was directly in front of the wide-eyed, still panting Yuya. His grin looked slightly on the insane side now, his own slitted eyes to big to be healthy. he raised his clenched fist, and in it, flashed a curved, shiny knife.

Yuya's rapid breath hitched in her throat. The Leader spoke again, his voice soft, but excited. 'Relax...This won't hurt... much...'

The muscles in his arm tensed ever so slightly. Even the Leader himself seemed to have stopped breathing. But before the knife came swishing down-

'Now, if I was the one down there, I'll find that a bit hard to believe, don't you think?'

...Honestly, what is it with these people? Do they enjoy breaking the sleepy author's narration to bits?

All of the Snake-faces twisted around, teeth bared, eyes popping. For behind them came a cheerful, carefree voice, cracking a little on the high pitch. It also sounded slightly slurred.

The owner of the voice actually giggled, and swept a smooth hand through his shoulder length of black, silky hair. In his other hand hung a small pot-like container, held by a fine string tangled in his slender fingers. Despite the warmth, the man had on a long black coat, it's hem fluttering around below his knees, yet it still showed off the man's slim silhouette, against the faint lamplight in the far away streets.

The Snake-face Leader recovered quicker than expected of someone of his intelligence. 'Who are you to interfere!?' he yelled at the newcomer. He swept around fully, turning his back on Yuya, away from her. 'Do,' he snarled, jabbing a sharp thumb at himself. 'Do you know who I am!? I am Mekira, leader of the Orochikiba gang! I am The Swift, The Cunning, the-'

The black haired man suddenly hiccupped, cutting the Swift/Cunning's little speech off short. Mekira blinked, before his normally pale cheeks turned blotchy with angry red marks.

'You- you dare utter such disgusting sounds in my presence-' he stuttered.

The other man gave another hiccup, this time accompanied with a high giggle.

'Sorry, I've just been drinking. Still am, as a matter of fact.' He uncorked the bottle dangling at his side, raised it right to his lips and tilted it all the way up. 'Hmm... none left,' he said, sounding rather dejected. 'I must have consumed more than I realized.' Another hiccup, another embarrassed giggle.

'Drunk...?' Yuya murmured, before she remembered that she was supposed to keep from drawing attention to herself again. However, there was no need.

In an outburst of uncontrollable anger, Mekira had rushed at the drunk man with an inhuman screech that pierced the night; knife thrust out in front, on it's deadly path towards the other man's chest, Yuya barely had time to register his enraged, maddened face.

'UWAAAHHHHHH!!'

'Look out!' Yuya screamed.

_(That man is going to die trying to save me...!)_

But Mekira's bawl, like his speeches, was cut off again by the man- this time, however, by no hiccup. Before Mekira had even stepped within reach of the person, his outstretched arm had been grabbed, twisted back; and after a moment of excruciating pain for Snake-Face as his own running feet pulled on it, he was flung bodily against the solid alley wall. As far as Yuya could see, this had all been done in one, swift move.

His cronies could not be blamed for their slacking mouths and bulging eyes, as the man straightened and faced the rest of them. His face could be seen a bit more clearly now; although it looked slightly red from drink, it had a calm, cool, authority filled atmosphere about it- about his whole posture. A small, gentle smile danced among his features, but a pair of sharp blue eyes stared unblinkingly from behind his dark fringe.

'That aside, I still wouldn't want to threaten a gentle lady with such a dangerous environment,' he chirped, as though he had not just smashed another man against a solid brick wall. 'Myself, I'm just glad I don't have a woman hanging off my arm tonight for a change. I wouldn't like her to see me in a situation like this. Brings my popularity with them right down if they panic, it does.'

'A-aniki...' 'No way...' It would seem they have finally snapped out of it.

'R-run for it!' 'No! The girl, first! He won't be able to stop us all in time!' They were also turning their attention back to Yuya.

'Wha- what?!' She scrambled up again, using the wall behind to support her weak legs. She searched inside her paper bag for something to save herself with, but her fingers slipped and fumbled over the items inside.

_(No...I'm not going to make it...)_

Yuya could never be sure of what happened next. She remembered glimpsing the man through a gap in between the advancing figures- and seeing him vanish from sight the next moment. Rather than surprise, the first thing she felt was a certain type of despair- to be left alone, to die, no, _killed_ all alone, just as she had always feared, since _that day_-

But then, he was right in front of her, his straight back blocking her from a view of six crazy men, all armed with long, razor-sharp knives pointed at her. She only glimpsed the bottle, now able to be identified as a clay one, in the of it's semicircle flying route around the man- only caught sight of it as it was jerked back to it's owners side once again. By then, everyone of the surrounding men were eagle-spread on the ground, unconscious, blood dripping from wounds in their heads.

The standing man gave a light chuckle. A groan sounded from the sidelines, and he stopped, looking around in amused concern.

'How...how??'

Mekira was up again, but in no condition for action. He stared at his fallen subordinates with disbelieving eyes.

His popping eyeballs snapped back to the other man. 'How did you do this?! With only an empty Sake bottle!'

The man brushed his hands lightly against each other, as if dusting imaginary dirt off.

'What makes a samurai strong is not the weapon, but the techniques,' was his nonchalant reply.

At the end of his line, however, a cracking sound disturbed the momentary peace, and the 'weapon' broke into pieces, falling with all the dramatic clutter they could muster up.

They all watched this, and Mekira's eyes did the impossible. They widened. 'Samurai...? Don't tell me you're...' he rasped.

The man sighed. 'Unfortunately, yes. I am of the Tokai no Samurai gang.' Despite his exasperated manner, he still smiled. 'Now, back to business.'

He strode forward, reached out and grabbed Mekira's flinching head, and bashed it back against the wall.

'Ah...'

How, Yuya wondered at the back of her astounded mind, could a man that seemed so soft, do all these?

Said 'soft' man had lowered his own head near Mekira's, his grip on it as strong and cruciating as iron.

'You are Mekira, you say?' he asks in a quiet voice. 'Yes...Tora-san spoke of you recently. It seems you have been lurking around our area a lot these days... I even heard that Kyo-san caught you a couple of weeks ago, oh dear...'

He pulled back up, but did not release his grip on Mekira's head. Pulling it coldly away from the wall momentarily, he suddenly bashed it back again once, twice, three times more. Accompanying them each time was a strangled scream, each one cut off by a rasping wheeze. With a final, heavy groan, Mekira slumped forward as the other man finally let go of his head, blood pounding out of the wound where all of his hits had landed. The man stepped back, and looked down on his handiwork in disgust.

'Your ugly, cheating face is enough to make me sober. And that's not something anyone can do. Now, trust me,' The man spoke again, his tone as icy as frost. 'If you see me, or Kyo-san...or perhaps even Tora-san, again anywhere near here...consider your life as lost.'

With a final unpleasant look shot at the body below, he returned to Yuya's side. His eyes, surprisingly, already had it's first warmth once again.

'I'm sorry for the commotion caused, Miss. Are you alright?'

Yuya, startled at this sudden change of attitude, heard herself mumble out, 'Y-yes, I'm fine, I think, thanks...thanks to you,' she finished, uncharacteristically timid.

The man gave a small laugh. 'It was nothing. Good that you're not hurt, very good...It will have forever been on my conscience if such a pretty girl like yourself had been injured in the fray.' He laughed again as Yuya blushed, smiled and fidgeted. 'My name's Shinda Yukimura, by the way, Miss. 24 years old, works as a magazine editor. A surprisingly good business, even in these parts. You are free to contact me if you would like a job change?'

Yuya smiled, but clasped the paper bag even tighter towards her chest. 'No, not yet, at least, thank you...I'm Shiina Yuya, 19. Um...I'm new around here.'

'I see.'

'Thank you again, Shinda-san,' Yuya gave another gratified smile, trying to make an escape with the slightest of efforts shown.

'Please, call me Yukimura. Ah, this may be sudden, but would you please accompany me to my friend's place?'

Yuya started. 'What?'

'Well, borrowed house? Hangout? Yes, that'll be it. I should probably insist you should stay there as well, in the meantime... It'll be the best for you, Yuya-san.'

'Thank you, very much, Yukimura-san,' Yuya said, flustered. 'But I really must get home.'

'I would advise against that. It's dangerous,' Yukimura's face had turned serious again. 'I cannot guarantee that this is all the Orochikiba gang had. That guy Mekira may have sent reinforcements before I got here- I heard you scream, and I praise you for being such a fast runner, by the way- anyway, some of his friends may be waiting for you at your home, or are on their way here. They will, most definitely, harm you, and I'd rather not let myself intrude so prudently onto a woman's property when she had suffered a very severe shock just minutes ago. I don't trust myself, for one thing.' A small smile flitted across his smooth lips. 'Therefore, I will prefer you to please follow me back to my friends, ensuring your safety, as well as my own.'

Yuya was having a hard time taking this all in. Orochikiba gang? Reinforcements? His friends...

She found herself asking, 'Your friends...are they part of the gang Tokai no Samurai?'

'Well,' He hesitated- in embarrassment? Yuya wondered- 'Yes. The name was actually from a high school reputation one member of it got as a joke. But, somehow, even he couldn't shift it, so it stuck. And, yes,' he continued, smiling at Yuya's questioning expression. 'I am a gangster, and a powerful one. I won't hide that.'

'But-'

'But one that does not mean you any harm. Trust me. I do not wish to rush you, but if we run into anymore trouble, things could get a rather sticky. It's all your choice, but please,' he extended a hand towards her. 'Will you come with me?'

Knowing that he meant well, but her common sense dragging her down all the same, Yuya wordlessly took his hand. Yukimura smiled.

'Thank you,' he said, in a tone that Yuya thought could have also been used for 'Finally'. However, the gentleness in his features disarmed her completely of angry comments.

As they proceeded a little way to the east side of the town, he added, 'Oh, and would you like to share this?' and flung his coat over both of their heads.

Yuya touched it curiously. 'Why?'

'The news said it will rain tonight,' Yukimura explained. 'And I broke my only umbrella yesterday, what luck. That's why I had no choice but to wear this tonight.' He sighed and fanned himself a little. 'Not that I'm complaining that much, it helped a lot in some things tonight. Besides,' he turned back to face the front. 'My kid gave me this as a present.'

'You have a child?' Yuya asked, surprised.

'Yes, sort of, and a very cute one too. Sometimes he's a bit too independent for his age though, I think.' His voice suggested he was very fond of the kid.

After a minute or two, true to Yukimura's words, the first few raindrops hit the roof of the little canopy they had made between each other with the coat. Nevertheless it was an uncomfortable, silent one or two minutes until then for Yuya. Finally, she said shyly,

'You were very strong.'

Yukimura glanced at her in mild surprise and gave her the first, full smile she had seen since they had met.

'Thank you. I always win.'

Gaining some confidence from these words, Yuya grinned, and replied, 'That's some mighty balloon of hot air, stranger. Mind if I pop it for you?'

After some chortling, they lapsed back into silence. The rain steadily became heavier, and the two underneath the coat was quickly shrouded in sheets of water and darkness.

* * *

That's all for chapter two, I think. I actually had some more to it, but I think I'll leave that to Chapter three. Otherwise the page will be so long and boring and you'll lose what interest you had in this for a while.

First- yes, it was wacky. But I wrote the draft in bed, and although I am in it right now, I was much hyper and practically crazy at the time. FcDonald's? yes, it's just a sick, sick joke. Just think it as a bad dream and maybe it'll go away. Expired food? Like I said, I was mental. Pumpkin? I don't like them.

Yes, it was Mekira. I forgot how he looked like in the manga- maybe he had starry, gorgeous, big bug eyes that weren't narrow at all. Whatever. The first time I saw him I thought he looked like a snake. Sorry Mekira fans. Even sorrier news- I'm planning to kill him off. I heard that he was the fake one, actually, but I haven't got that far in the manga yet.

I'm sorry it was oh so wacky- I've calmed down now, so I promise to write proper things from now on. Wow, it's past 1:00 here already... I should really get some sleep...

You know when I said I'll be counting the days? I lost count. Maybe 4, 5 days? I'll just check when I last updated, how stupid could I be...  
Although, you really have to admire my commitment. The day after I uploaded the first chapter, I came home with a headache and feeling like I wanted to hurl. At first we- me and my family- were kinda scared and paranoid, thinking I had swine flu or something, so my mum gave me some medicine and I had a good FOURTEEN HOURS sleep. Turns out it was from lack of rest, most likely. Oh, joy, I had my English end of year exam along with the headache, too. To avoid this from happening again, I will now SLEEP.

...And my little sister's (she goes to a different secondary school as me) school closed since some student of theirs WAS infected. Now she sits at home and rubs it all into my face. It smells like old socks and rotten eggs. How great is that? One more week to go for hols...and then I can fall unconscious all I want.

Once again, I'm sorry I made this chapter look like a piece from _Romeo and Juliet written by Frankenstein_. That's pretty much who I am when I don't get enough sleep, spare me.

**Orochikiba-** As most people who read _Naruto _knows, Orochi can be also be read as Daijya, both of which means Big Snake. Kiba means fangs. I was searching for a name to do with snakes, and this is what I ended up with. Luckily, I wouldn't have to remember it for much longer.

**Tokai no Samurai-**A lame name, just like the title. Tokai means city, the name means City Samurai. Can reviewers please vote if I should keep it like this, or if I should change it back to English? thanks.

**Shinda-**The name Sanada 真田 can also be read as this. I was originally planning to alter Yuya's name, too, but I found I didn't exactly know any other way to pronounce her's. It just means a kind of tree, or from those long, narrow mushrooms shiitake 椎竹 (I don't like them.) Guess what I got for the other characters? Some I don't really fancy, some I kinda like.

Do I really need to explain what Sake is? For general knowledge, it's Japanese rice wine, (at least I think it was. Something like that, if I remember correctly)

YUKIMURA AND SASUKE FOREVER!!! THEY ARE SO COOL/CUTE!!

Right, right, this is supposed to be a Yuya/Kyo fic. Reviews please!


	3. Enter everyone else, in the Bridge

Chapter 3! And my school finally closed down today....  
About time. My grade already had three people off sick (and in quarantine, from what I heard) for days now, and we were probably the only English speaking international school left open in this country. Man, if you were gonna close down anyway, you could have done it sooner...  
The news was rather sudden, though we were expecting it to be so anyway. We were just making our way to our lunch table after period two, when our friend comes running up and says, 'Hey, you know there's no school tomorrow? And we're finishing early today, too!'  
News spreads fast in our school. In a record of five minutes, the majority of the student body was aware of this, even before some of the teachers. By the time we reached our table, the cafeteria and other eating places was swarming with jabbering kids all saying something on the lines of 'No school'. Seriously, people, with all the noise there isn't any need to add the words 'Did you know'. The thing we should be focusing on is WHY THE HELL DIDN'T THEY DO THIS EARLIER???

That's all for my daily report!

Disclaimer: Fine. Be like that. Who needs you, anyway? Who would even want you? A sad, miserable thing like you...Who in the right mind wou _(Will you get ON with it?) _IdonotownSamuraiDeeperKyothereIsaiditnowleavemealone *Breaks down completely*

Not that I feel so deeply about it, however attached.

On with the show!

* * *

'Umm...Yukimura-san? Are you sure this is where your friends are?'

'Quite sure. As I have explained previously, it is more of a meeting place. None of us really spends more time than necessary there.'

The two, still shrouded in the coat, walked astray of the path and proceeded down the grassy slope.

'Half of us have far better places to actually live in. The rest are always on the move, but somehow manages to find their way back in the end.'

Yuya, though thinking the latter part of this peculiar, shrugged it off and looked around, puzzled.

'But...I don't see anything...'

They were walking on a far grassier path than the last, along the pebbled banks of a river. In front of them stretched a small, concrete bridge, it's foundations planted heavily in the streaming water. The rain drizzled on, though admittedly weaker than before. The smoke from Yukimura's cigarette curled up to the raining sky from underneath the coat, it's orange light occasionally brightening for a second, before dimming to a small, dull light again to repeat the sequence.

'You can't see the entrance from here. The real thing is in the bridge.'

'In the-?'

'It was supposed to be a sort of home for security guards in the first place. You see how narrow the width of the bridge is? It was deliberately designed to only allow one vehicle to pass through at a time, at least, not without a guard's consent. Our place was actually meant to be the security guard's observation and break point, since they would have stayed up for long hours into the night, with rare shifts.' He pointed at one of the supporting legs, which Yuya now realized also had part of it resting on the bank, out of the water. 'In there.'

He continued, 'Due to an increase of complaints about illegal acts- unspecified- from the citizens, the idiots in charge of this place thought up the idea of limiting vehicle access to and from this bit of the region. Therefore, most of the main roads had been closed off, and "systems" such as these stop-and-search bridges were to be set up instead. It seemed like a good idea at first- they'd been right about most trafficked drugs or pirated objects having come in from either this side or the other of the river. However, after a few months of construction, the brainiacs decided to take another survey on the cars passing through the area- this time in the places they were actually setting up the "systems". Turns out that the main problems around those areas aren't quite drinkers or hawkers- it was riots and gangfire. But a few pounds of illegal drugs being shared to some addicts is far more important than people injured in an armed robbery, or getting caught in a middle of a full out gang fight from time to time, isn't it?'

He stopped to drop the cigarette he had been smoking since the middle of their walk, and crushed it into a gap between two patches of unhealthily dry grass.

'The first survey taken must have been in a place much further south,' Yukimura went on. 'They weren't very detailed with the areas, you see. They've got more sloppy, slurring drug dealers than youthful, active and enthusiastic- in a way- groups than here.' He paused again. 'That's one reason, I suppose. But I think there's a few more- their underestimation of the intellect of gangs, for one. Some of them do earn their money through connections like that,' He grinned. 'After seeing some action taken at last, most of them kept their cocaine stinking cars out of sight for the time being. They refrained from taking the easier process of smuggling items in and out, too. The guards didn't check for extra pockets- let alone the insides of underwear.'

He laughed shortly at Yuya's expression, and steered back to the talk. 'So they decided to demolish what they could, as it was obviously a waste of time, space and money. Unfortunately, they've gone quite far with some of their projects, such as this one. _This _one,' he nodded at the bridge, now quite near, looming over their striding figures. 'Already had almost all of it's foundations set in, and the furnishings and interior design of the guards' rooms were pretty much done. The best they could do was finish it off, stabilize any dangerous parts and move off to continue work south, leaving this as a sort of apology to the people here. Believe me, their popularity went down quite a bit, thanks to all the inconvenience they caused.

'People like "them" never were good at making rational choices that will really benefit society, not worsen it. Balancing their cheque books weren't really their strong points. "They" went way over their budgets on this one. Hence impoverished people. Hence gangs, or worse- people too weak to even be accepted in one, left alone, despairing in their helplessness.'

Perhaps Yuya had imagined it, but for an instant, she thought that Yukimura's eyes had flashed darkly under the coat. His tone certainly sounded clipped, but when he spoke again, it was light and full of humor once more.

'Here we go, Yuya-san! Welcome to the Gang of the City Samurai's hideout!'

They stood in front of a metal door wedged in deep within the concrete leg, half in and out of the river. Shadowed in the darkness of the main object above, as well as the natural cloak of night, it was no wonder Yuya had not spotted it easily before.

Yukimura gave a glance to the side as he tugged the coat off both of them, and frowned displeasedly. 'Oh, great, so now it stops raining...'

Looking out at the same direction, Yuya found it had, indeed, chosen the perfect timing to cease. Some droplets glistened on the tips of grass, and they blew off in the slight wind which rose and rustled through the landscape. Further behind her, the cloudy silhouette of the city stood against the smoggy grey sky.

'Yuya-san?' Yukimura's questioning voice sounded next to her.

Whipping around from the view, she blushed as she saw him holding the now open door for her. He gave her his usual, gentle smile, and followed her in; making sure the door was fully closed and locked before he beckoned her up some stairs nearby.

A very short climb later, Yuya found herself in a small landing with Yukimura knocking on the closest of four doors before inviting himself in. She walked through it as well, and blinked as the light from a muted, portable TV shone on her in the darkness.

The room was spacious enough- the first thing that caught Yuya's eye was the plushy sofa, facing away from her and towards the little television. The electronic device itself sat on a coffee table shoved a reasonable distance away from the other furniture, it's glassy surface reflecting the images of some soap program back up. Somewhere behind all that, and beside the door, was another small room that Yuya suspected to be a kitchen. Some objects in it were partially lit up as the TV flashed; a saucepan, a drying rack, a knife, the sink. There was a rectangle opening in front of the sink, through which the light came through. It was the sort of window that objects could be passed through. Opposite to that was a wooden table, plain and cheap looking, with a number of matching chairs to go with it.

It was only when Yukimura spoke did she realize that there were other people in the room with them.

'Sasuke, you're still awake?' He sounded mildly surprised.

A small figure whipped around from his slouched position on the sofa. In his hands he held a squarish object- just able to make out the shape and markings in the dim, flashing light, Yuya recognized it as a newly released game she had seen in her neighborhood electronics shop. The person was a small boy, she supposed, but still could not see much of his features.

'I was waiting for you, baka!' The boy had turned his back on the TV and was kneeling on the battered sofa, hands planted squarely on the backrest of it. 'That took you ages! You were supposed to finish the mission swiftly, and we only let you volunteer for it because you swore to do so yourself, do you know how much I- oh?'

He stopped suddenly and stared at Yuya for a little while. He then made a noise that sounded like an angry scoff, and sat back down properly onto the sofa. 'I see,' he continued in a calmer, though still annoyed voice, and Yuya could practically see the cold sneer in his tone. 'You picked up another _whore_.'

Yuya had exclaimed 'WHAT!?' at the same time as Yukimura had started, 'Sasuke, that's not-'

'You are _very _cruel, Yukimura-san,' a voice, this time deeper, yet more feminine, interrupted them from the table in the corner. 'He didn't say anything out loud, but Sasuke-kun had been fretting about you for the past three hours. And now,' Dark eyes flickered from Yukimura's protesting face to Yuya's shocked one. 'You bring home another "teahouse" woman you met on the way-'

'She isn't,' Yukimura interjected, only to be stopped again by a pair of hands shooting out to grab his shirt's collar. Paper bag and contents spilled out all over the floor, and rage seemed to radiate and curl off Yuya in the form of an evil, red light.

'What,' Yuya asked in a low voice. 'Does he mean by whore??? (And teahouse woman???) I thought you were helping me!'

'Don't get this wrong, Yuya-san,' he answered in a measured, level tone. 'It's just that people happen to think I'm a bit of a...womanizer, I guess?'

'We're not too far off the point,' the boy on the couch said crisply. His back was still turned to them.

Yukimura sighed. 'Yes, well...' He sounded irritated. 'I admit that I enjoy, hanging out with beauties... maybe even stay up late with one or two and do "things"...' He trailed off, but looked smug at the younger boy's face, it's small owner having turned around quickly at Yukimura's comments. He reddened, but stood to face Yukimura, cross-armed, and demanded, 'So how is _she_ different, then?', nodding at Yuya.

'I found her in some trouble in the alleys. Figured she should stay here for the night, for safety. You know I wouldn't bring people here without a good reason, Sasuke. And it was the Orochikiba gang again.'

Though his eyes seemed to darken, the boy's scoff was still with an air of superiority.

'Those losers? I hope you got them good, then, Yukimura. They've been walking around our territory like they own it these past months.'

Now that her eyes had adjusted to the varying intensity of lights emitted from the telly, Yuya could see more or less of the small child. She was surprised when, for a moment, his hair colour looked almost white; she blinked, and it still looked the same. Perhaps it's the damn light, she thought, or he must have dyed it to a really pale colour. Is that even allowed in schools, though? Another anomaly that caught her attention was the colour, this time of his eyes. It may have been a shade of brown, but, again, possibly because of the light, it occasionally shone golden. His irises, too, looked an unusual shape: sharp and narrow, black against their golden surroundings. Almost like a cat at night, Yuya thought. Then something from the boy's talk snagged at her mind.

'"Our territory"-?' She had begun to ask. Surely he was too young to be part of a gang?

But she had to leave the question unanswered, as the other woman in the room piped up.

'But the Leader of them used to be an acquaintance of Tora-san, wasn't he?' The woman enquired. She had sat herself on the wooden table instead of at it now, and having moved further into the room and the light, Yuya was also able to see more of her. A daintily painted face, Yuya noted, with extremely long hair that reached her knees. Aside from her stature of a stylish lady at the peak of her life, Yuya couldn't help but also notice the size of the other woman's breasts.

She kicked herself mentally for that.

'I'm sure Tora-san can handle the issue by himself if he wants to,' Yukimura answered her, leaning to look through the open counter to check the kitchen behind it. 'Speaking of which, where is he? I can understand how Kyo-san will rather take a stroll in the rain with the prospect of returning from it in two days time rather than be cooped up here for a few hours. But Tora-san has more sense, doesn't he? Wouldn't go out into the wet even if he got paid for it.'

'When he would if threatened,' the woman smiled. 'No, he's just down the hall in the bathroom. Probably checking himself out in that cracked dust patch of a mirror. And Kyo-san has gone to get some new light bulbs,' she nodded up at the non-lit lamp hung directly above their heads. Yuya would not have noticed it if she had not pointed it out- like everything else in it's surroundings, it looked shabby and old. 'He said he couldn't stand the flickering, and now he's gone and smashed it.'

'Oh, so Kyo-san was the one who did that? At least he's taking some responsibility. Did he also mention he was getting me a new umbrella he so eagerly used?'

A laugh. 'Unfortunately, no.'

'Aww...'

The smaller boy noticed Yuya was standing uncertainly, apart from Yukimura and the woman as they chatted on. He walked over and tugged on her sleeve. 'Nee-chan,' he said. 'Now that you're here, I guess we can't exactly kick you out, as you know our location. Might as well make yourself at home. Here,' he passed her the fallen bag from the floor, as well as some of it's contents. 'Take these and dump it into the next room. There're some beds, but I don't know who's sleeping in them tonight.'

Yukimura picked off the rest of the items on the floor and placed them into Yuya's arms.

'Sorry for the fright from earlier, Yuya-san,' he smiled. 'Right, Sasuke?'

The kid nodded glumly. 'If you aren't here for Yukimura, I suppose it's fine.'

'Right!' We haven't gone through introductions yet!' Yukimura beamed. 'Yuya-san, this lady here is Ikumo Okuni. She's the ears of our little group, for there's no one else fit for the job than an old woman who's knee deep in gossip!' He dodged a swinging fist from Okuni's side. ' A joke, Okuni-san, a joke... And this midget here-' Yukimura suddenly stretched out an arm and collared the other boy, drawing him into a necklock. Ignoring the surprised and angry cries of 'Let me go!' below, Yukimura continues, 'Is Entobi Sasuke! He's my charge, as well,' he added.

'Eh? The one that gave you that coat?' Somehow, Yuya had pictured him with a little more...innocence, for one thing.

'Yu-Yukimura! You told her!?'

'Why not? You said it was no big deal.'

Sasuke's face coloured even more. 'That's not the point! It was bad enough when you told the guys here- you remember the torture that Benitora put me through, don't you?- and now you're blabbing it to total strangers??'

Yukimura tightened his "hug". 'Aww, you're so cute when you're embarrassed! I just wanted to tell the world about this cute side of you!'

'Stop it- Yuki- Lemme go-' Sasuke struggled even harder, leading Yukimura to loosen his grip on the boy momentarily to spin him around, coming face to face with each other. Poor Sasuke was still prevented from escaping by a pair of two, strong arms resting on his shoulders.

Okuni sighed. 'Don't worry about them,' ｓhe told Yuya, who had felt concerned about Yukimura's merciless teasing (especially). The bickering of the two continued in the background. 'They're the two with the strongest bonds with each other in our group, in a way. It's important that they do, since teamwork is essential for survival in conditions like these. Though if either's hurt in any way, it's like as though the other one is also suffering the pain he feels. There was a lot of that in rougher times, I can tell you. But they're both efficient in a fight, and has the rest of the gang's full trust to carry with them.'

Yuya looked back at the two, now arguing over Sasuke's game.

'It's bad for your eyes, especially in the dark like this! I don't care if you're dying of discontented boredom, you should be in bed by now!'

'Shut the hell up, will you? It's your fault that you made me worry and couldn't go to sleep! Ah- just stop lecturing me like that, you're not my father!'

'I'm as good as. But,' Something in Yukimura's eyes brightened. Raising his free left hand, his right still holding Sasuke's game he had snatched away, he placed it on the crown of Sasuke's head. As the smaller boy calmed down a bit and looked up at Yukimura's hand confusedly, the older smiled, and started rubbing it in an affectionate way. 'At least you've admitted you worried about me. Leaking out your so well-hidden feelings when you get agitated was always a weak point- not that I've minded it ever before. Alright,' he shoved Sasuke's game into his own jean's pockets and checked his watch. 'It's still eight. You can stay up for an hour more. Go play with your ken-dama or something.'

Sasuke scowled. 'The other kids at school don't have to go to sleep so early.'

'The other kids at school don't go, have to or not, to night time raids you enjoy so much, where they could possibly lose their lives if they aren't on their sharpest senses. Get the point?'

A pout, an ill-wishing look, but yeah, he got the point.

The man turned again to Yuya. 'Right, Yuya-san-'

The door opened and cut him off; another figure walked into the room. 'Man, my biceps are looking good these days! Ain't no wonder chicks are falling for this Benitora-sama...Oh, hey Yukimura-han! Thought I heard your voice. Hmm? Is that Kyo-han there? But I don't see any light bulbs, oh...'

Yukimura raised his hand in greeting. 'Tora-san, this is-'

The other man suddenly burst into peals of laughter. Ah, Yukimura-han! You've outdone yourself this time! Nothing but skin, this one!' It took Yuya a record of half a second to notice he was pointing at her, crying his eyes out. 'I don't have much against your tastes, but were they out of the higher classed ones at the hostess club? Face like a pig! Too skinny to be one, but that goes to say for her breasts as well! If she has any!'

The laughing man's most distinguishable feature was his red and white striped bandana, which covered his shortly cropped hair. His eyes were almost closed, oddly fitting for his smiling face, and he wore a shirt of the same colours as his bandana with ragged sleeves hitched high up to his shoulders. He opened his mouth to speak again.

'How much did you pay for her? A 1000 yen? No- wait- 500!'

Yuya's knee came up to meet the man's open stomach.

The other three watched in united surprise as the crumpling man was repeatedly hit around the cheeks; even as his body hit the floor and pleas for mercy sounded from below Yuya continued to exhibit superhuman strength and speed in her attacks on everywhere she could reach on him.

'Did I really need to save her that time?'

'She didn't look as though she could so much as pinch a fly...'

'Of course. We women all have a natural instinct for protection- physical or mental- dormant within them somewhere. We are patient, most of the time, but if anybody happens to stretch our limits- well, you have a live example right before your eyes.'

The "live example" was now digging her heel into the fallen man's cheeks, as he lay in front of them on his side. 'So, you think I look like a pig, huh?! I'm flat chested, huh?! Well, how'd you like this?! Urauraurauraurahh!!'

'Owowowowowww!!!'

Yukimura stepped in bravely, albeit foolishly, to stop Yuya from permanently leaving her shoe mark imprinted on the man's already distorted face. 'Yuya-san…Please calm down a little and come over here…I assure you that you're perfect as you are, so…'

Huffing a little and red in the face, Yuya finally took mercy on him and stalked away, but not without kicking the guy's head a few times first.

As Yukimura and Sasuke, both keeping a safe distance between themselves and her, led Yuya away towards the sofa, Okuni moved to squat down next to the man still lying on the floor. 'Tora-san, are you alright?'

Tora's puffed up cheek twitched a tiny millimeter. 'I…' Okuni leaned in closer. 'I…think I'm in love…'

Confused glances were all around, apart from Yuya, still fuming, who hadn't heard.

Okuni's puzzled expression was replaced by another of sarcastic realization. 'The impact you received when you were dropped on your head as a baby has finally come back to your brain after all these years, hasn't it?'

'No, Okuni-han!' The man suddenly leapt to his knees to meet her surprised eye with his own determined, open one. 'I'm in my right mind! I've found my perfect girl!'

'Ten seconds ago you were saying how she looked like an underweight farm livestock.'

He waved his arms around in the air, as if to disperse everything he had said till then. 'I was wrong there! Looks aren't everything, you know. I now appreciate that I need a person who will grant me fiery passion to live my life! And I've found her!' The glazed look was back again. 'This must be how it is to find true love…It feels like heaven…'

'That's what you said when you got your first date,' Okuni said unperturbedly. 'I have proof to understand that this feeling of yours is highly untrustworthy. If I recall correctly, on the date, you waited outside the Tokyo Dome for seven hours, in the rain, and the girl never showed up. You said a similar comment after achieving a promise for a second date, and while you actually managed to get to it safely, you found out that your date was a crossdressing male while in the middle of your Pâté de foie gras. Not the cleanest dinner the L'Aime restaurant had encountered in all their years of business. When we finally thought that you had learnt your lesson enough to stop repeating the phrase for every newsflash of your happy life, you come back one day with a bucket of amphetamine, chugged the whole thing down, and for the next three nights you were singing about how you were walking through some giant, golden gate with cherubs flying around you everywhere you go, while in reality you were-'

'Hey! Yukimura, get your hands off my ears!'

'Ohhh, no, you don't. You're still,' he mouthed to Sasuke. 'A _kid_.'

'- so I'm expecting nothing good out of this one either. Well, have fun,' Okuni finished. With a small curve present at the edge of her lips, she picked herself up from his level and left the man gaping like a goldfish, round eyed.

Having cooled down during this, Yuya stared at this crazy display of a gang. It was hard to think of anything scarier than this, excluding fat pony-unicorns prancing around on solid rainbows, or fluffy white hairballs of plump bunnies.

She jumped as the man, still on his knees, scooted around the perimeter of the sofa and screeched to a stop at her feet, where he placed both his hands in front of himself and performed a deep _dogeza_.

'Excuse me for my earlier prudence and disrespect, miss! I will hereby punish myself in time to come by running around our area of the territory four- no- five times, miss! Let me introduce myself! I am Benitora, the youth, laughter and heart of this gang! Before continuing on with the list of my full inventory of skills and how they come in use in various situations, I must have to ask a question of the utmost importance, but since it already has the obvious answer it will be more like confirming your consent to it,' Here he looked up swiftly, narrow eyes cracking open with a manly glint to it, face of that of all the seriousness in the world. He took a deep breath, 'Will you marry me?'

'………………。'

The forever multiplying collection of bruises on Benitora's face could have been exhibited as a rare item on an auction, or in a War museum, as a memorial to Those Who Faced And Suffered Terrible Battles. Never one to fake innocence into his voice, as it would make him sound like a suck up, always one to rub salt into open wounds, Sasuke commented, 'Masochist. You should've known that asking that while knowing the answer will only bring you more pain than you already have in your miserable life. Unless you were hoping for another answer, like, "what the fuck are you talking about, now get you arse out of here before I stick something up it"?'

'Sasuke, don't tease him. And don't use those kinds of words. Still,' Yukimura added scathingly. '"The life, laughter and heart"?'

'It's the truth, innit?' A muffled voice from a curled up ball of a tiger rose from the cold floor.

'The truth is always a sad thing, Tora-san,' Okuni shook her head gravely.

Benitora slowly unfurled his body, grimacing at the ache, and forced himself to peek up as Yuya's still glaring face. 'Umm…may I ask your name, miss?'

'What, so that you can somehow trace it to my bank account, tell the people there you're my husband or something, then ship yourself to Alaska and go into hiding?' Yuya snapped.

Poor Benitora squeaked and dragged himself a good five hundred yards from his current position.

'N-no, nothing like that…' He glanced up at Yukimura. 'Yukimura-han…?'

'Her name is Shiina Yuya, Tora-san. She moved in a few weeks ago, if I'm right,' He glanced at her, who nodded glumly. 'I found her on my way back here,' Yukimura continued, observing Benitora's face carefully as he did. 'Cornered by Mekira's gang.'

A crease formed between Benitora's closed eyes; he stumbled to his feet from the floor, wincing as his unstable legs staggered to gain balance. 'What, did he follow her home, or what?'

'Exactly. He's a better stalker than you are, Tora-san.'

'Haha. You've much more experience than me, An-san.'

'Oh no, _I'm_ a proper gentleman. I don't have a need to stalk to get a companion for the night.'

'No, you have your servants to do that for you,' Sasuke mumbled beside him.

'Did you say something, Sasuke?'

'I said, "No, but you have our savings spent on the drinks, don't you." Seriously, Yukimura, you should get you hearing checked sometime soon.'

'That reminds me, we're talking about adult stuff here, we forgot to clamp down on the brat's ears!'

'I guess we're talking about you, then, Bonkurabonbon?'

'Brat who crapped!'

Leaving Yukimura to the suppressing of the wild "brat", Benitora turned, this time with more confidence, to Yuya, arms resting behind his head. 'Well, Yuya-han, it's a real pleasure to meet you. I'd just like to inform you that I am still deeply in love with you, and your energetic methods. So feel free to shower me with them anytime!' He ended with a cheery smile, standing tall and proud. It would have seemed brave to the point of stupidity and perhaps even slightly admirable, if not for his recoiling the next second at Yuya's "keep-silent-or-you're-dead" glare.

Straightening up once more, he coughs. 'On a more serious note, Yuya-han, do you realize the danger you're in?'

Yuya gave a 'hmph'. 'I don't need someone like you to tell me,' she said, crossing her limbs tightly towards herself on the sofa. 'Yukimura-san is letting me stay for the night. What?' she asked, irritated, when Benitora shook his head slowly.

'A night's not going to be enough, Yuya-han,' he said, much calmer than before. 'Those bastards knows where you live. Yukimura-han was just saying there will be a greater chance of the, visiting your place tonight than for the next few days. Give it a week, or even earlier, and they'd have recovered and would be wanting revenge. Why, it could be tomorrow, when you go out for a walk or something and meet some by chance- they'll attack you, wherever you may be. It's the psychology of those drones- so simple and one-minded. And we won't be around to save you.'

Realization dawned on Yuya. 'You mean-'

'A bit of a bother, having to go around every time to check on her,' Okuni sighed. 'I wish that those idiots will just lay low while in our territory.'

'They have no intentions to do so, I'm afraid,' Yukimura commented. 'You all have noticed that tonight certainly was not the first for them, right? They're restless, they are.'

'No matter how badly we beat the shit out of them, they can't get enough,' Sasuke joined in. 'It's like getting their own asses handed to them by us is a privilege they can boast to their pals- 'Ooh, look, I got this scrape when I nicked myself on the train door when a member of the Gang of the City Samurai pushed passed me.' The name of the Tokai no Samurai strikes fear into the minds of all that hears it! No wonder they don't take us seriously.'

'A few years back, sure they didn't, but our reputation's grown and now we're one of the best in the whole effing district,' Benitora told him. 'And with only five members. Hey,' A light bulb seemed to go off inside his head. 'Yuya-han could join us! Make it six! Then nobody will dare lay a hand on her!'

Although Yuya had opened her mouth to ask the idiot if he was more of one than she had thought, she hesitated when the other three gave him incredulous looks. A little scornful, yes, but it did not convey her thoughts on what a crazy idea it is. It was those of exasperation, as though they had expected this to come.

'You really _just_ noticed that?' Sasuke asked in a tired voice.

The light bulb flickered and went out. For extra emphasis, it's glass shattered with a tinkling sound.

'You already though of it? Damn,' Benitora grumbled.

'Wait! What do you mean, join you? Your gang?' Yuya found her voice again, but her heart was still beating very quickly. She rounded on them swiftly. 'Why would you…let me join?'

_(If…)_

Yukimura ran his right hand through his hair. 'It's logical,' he explained. 'And a type of tried-and-tested theory. If you're living in a neighborhood like this, where threats and bribes count more than justice and mercy, you'd want to steer clear of those who do it best- mainly gangs, Yakuza gumis and the sort. However, you still aren't completely safe. Unless- or maybe 'even' is the right word- even if you take precautions, like most of the citizens here, by not going out, alone or not, at night, avoiding dark places with little people around and merging with crowds, there is a good chance you might come across one of these troubling situations. Accidents,' His eyes flickered in the weak light. 'With them could result in heavy injuries…or even fatal ones.

'The best way to survive in an area like this is to stand up for yourself- with some backup. Although many people choose to, running and hiding isn't going to satisfy normal human's natural cry for freedom. Therefore, the answer many people come up with, to be able to walk around in the open, unafraid of the many dangers around you, is to become a part of it yourself. Join a gang. The stronger, the better, since everyone else will be too scared to harm you, although it's likely that life from then on will be much tougher with your new "friends". Do you see the logic, and yet the irony?'

He smiled ruefully. 'So more gangs are formed, and more people injured, cheated and robbed, or are scared out of their wits to enter another gang, and so on. Of course,' His smile turned to one of sincerity and kindness. 'Yuya-san, you don't have to join if you don't want to. We try to keep our group small- nice and secretive that way. Our territory id, while large, much more popular in normal citizens compared to the others- no screams at night as families are turned out of their houses, for one thing. Poor souls.' There was a short silence.

'Come on, Yukimura-han,' Benitora broke it with a light laugh. 'You sound almost as if you don't want Yuya-han.'

'Oh, I wouldn't mind,' Yukimura answered quietly. 'Actually, I think she'll be a good addition. She has shown exceptional agility and speed, and with some workouts she could prove to be skilled in handling certain weapons during a fight.'

'Provided she doesn't freak,' Sasuke added, seeing Yuya's face. 'But I'm following Yukimura all the way. I don't mind if Nee-chan comes or not, either.'

'Nor I, but it all comes down to Yuya-san, doesn't it? I'm actually hoping she'll bring more amusement to our dull days,' Okuni said. 'But, of course, we still have to talk it through with Kyo-san. I'm not sure how he will take it, though…'

Benitora waved his hand carelessly, swatting the thought aside. 'I, for one, is insistent that Yuya-han should join the gang!' he practically cried. 'I will not allow myself to shrink in fear of never seeing my dear one hurt so cruelly by those bastards like Mekira, who care nothing for anyone else's but their own being! If he lays a hand on you, Yuya-han, I swear I'll rip him to pieces…'

'Ah, yes,' Okuni seemed to recall something. 'You knew him back in school, didn't you, Tora-san? Classmates, or even friends…'

'I was just in his year,' Benitora growled. 'Hung around with him a bit, but never liked him. He disappeared in the second year of high school, and didn't see him till I myself joined this gang….maybe he quit, or was expelled, I don't know.

'So how 'bout it, Yuya-han?' he switched quickly to the subject at hand, a wide grin split across his face. 'Wanna join?'

'Benitora,' Yukimura said, with a hint of a stern tone in his wary voice. 'She still has to understand the danger she will put herself into by playing a part of a gangster, and not just from Mekira's gang, but from her daily surroundings, too. We should give her some more time-'

'Time in which some other unapprehended danger could attack her, Yukimura-han. But, even I won't allow somebody to use our name for a protection we have not sworn to give. So she's in more danger as she will be than if she joins. She has to decide quickly.'

'…Yuya-san?'

She was pondering, of course- to join will endure her safety a little bit from other gangs, which seemed a priority in this area. However, the way Yukimura had put it…she could do without the danger, thank you, but could she be becoming a part of a rotten cycle he obviously disapproved on? It was he who had found and saved her, it was only fair to respect his views- and not violate them for her own benefits.

_(Yeah, well, he can't say much for himself, can he. He apparently even got his KID to join in…and how old is he, twelve?)_

Then, another thought, unbidden, crossed her weighing, uncertain mind.

_(If they are as strong as they make out to be…I mean, Yukimura-san is, for sure…then maybe- all these years, and maybe I could get a lead on that person…)_

And a rush of feelings, hatred, grief, vengeance washed over her, overriding every other thoughts as the painful memory comes shooting back at her from the bottom of her heart. During that moment her mind had gone blank, and she heard herself say, 'I'm in.'

While Benitora whooped with joy and Okuni clapped politely, Yukimura gave her a concerned look.

'We can't guarantee completely on your well being…' he said softly.

'It's not for the safety,' Yuya retorted. 'There's someo- thing, I need to do here.'

'Like make a living at that sewer of a restaurant?' Okuni asked, indicating the polo shirt Yuya wore.

'I dropped out of high school, too. That place was the most decent work I could find in a short time,' Yuya pinched the shirt and blushed. 'I don't suppose you have anything I could borrow?'

'Dig around in the closet in the bedroom later. Lots of stuff we don't use down there. Besides,' Okuni flashed her a smile. 'I guess things will be much easier to just consider you one of us already, as whoever disagrees on this now will be outvoted anyway. By the way, don't worry about the spare clothes- we share _everything_.'

'…Thanks.' Yuya fidgeted on the sofa. She wasn't sure if she liked the sound of "everything".

'Well, now we're settled there,' Benitora started for the table enthusiastically. 'Let's celebrate Yuya-han's addition to the gang!' He had spotted Yuya's abandoned paper bag, sitting forgotten on the floor, grabbed the contents and spread them around on the table. Before Yuya could stop him, he was wolfing down a moldy sandwich without checking it properly.

'Hey! That's my stuff! You can't eat it!'

Okuni put a firm, restraining hand on Yuya's shoulder. 'We share _everything_, Yuya-san,' she repeated slyly.

Having finished the sandwich already, Benitora snatched a can of beer from the bag and opened it. 'Let's drink, he said triumphantly, raising the can into the air. 'To our newest member, Yuya-ha-'

'To the shrink you were about to let into _my _gang?' asked a new voice from the doorway. 'I don't think so.'

Everybody turned. Okuni cried out a merry greeting and Yukimura nodded, while Benitora and Sasuke stayed silent as Benitora was halfway to draining the drinks at his lips down, and the other boy was just being moody again.

Benitora spluttered, and leapt to his feet. 'Kyo-han! I was wondering when you were going to come back. Kyo-han this,' he nodded at Yuya. 'Is Yuya-han. She just joined the Gang of the City Samurai, which is _ours_. Not an individual's property, which also means that it is up to the decision of the majority of the party on who can come in or not. And so far, all of us has voted she can.'

The dark figure moved in closer, perhaps intent on staring Benitora down. The rustle of a plastic bag followed him in, and he set it on the table with a light chink, and the clinks of glass tapping against each other. However, as he did, a flash of light shone over his face, and Yuya let in a gasp.

'You!'

A face that seemed to have a permanently unhappy look to it. Spiky, thick black hair grown carelessly around it. A raised eyebrow as he turned to look at her, and a pair of red, unearthly eyes gleaming mercilessly for a second.

His raised eyebrow lowered to a frown. 'Do I know you?'

'The man who saved me from the same, I mean, Orochikiba gang a couple of weeks ago!' Yuya said, excited but astounded. Another memory of the night struck her, and her vision went blurry and red for a second. Her eager expression turned into an ugly, blotchy one. 'You- you also said, when I tried to thank you-'

'Don't bother, I _don't _remember you,' He looked away from the disbelieving look and towards his comrades. 'Which one of you brought this stray bitch here?'

'I did, Kyo-san,' Yukimura chirped enthusiastically. All the solemn air from before seemed to have been blown away as the man entered the room. 'She'd been caught by Mekira's gang- for the second time, if I've heard correctly. What a coincidence!'

'Not really, considering that I won't credit her for her intelligence,' He shot another nasty look at Yuya, who was still steaming in rage and opening and closing her mouth, in loss of words. 'What's all this about letting this fry enter the gang?'

'It's safer for her, obviously, and we may finally be able to get rid of those pests by "letting her be the reason", one way or another,' Yukimura supplied helpfully. 'Good reputation for the gang.'

'She doesn't need our protection,' the other man growled. 'Good reputation? Don't make me laugh. We already have more than what we could have wished for on our fancy birthday cakes every year, at Christmas, except for the thing about us being too kind to people of our place. She'll only be a lag. Go put her back where you found her.'

'Now, Kyo-san-'

'No. There's enough of your women to go around with, Yukimura.'

'Well, I for one thinks it gets awfully lonely, Kyo-san, being the only female in a mostly men society,' Okuni purred. 'It will be wonderful, (for me) if another girl joined.' She put on a dreamy face. 'Hah~, the things we could have talked about. Clothes, hair, sex-'

'…I'll just follow whatever Yukimura says.'

Benitora leapt up from behind the glaring man. 'That's right! It'll be nice to have a new face for a change, after these years of being stuck in the same company! And after all she's gone through with Mekira, it's only courteous to guard her with our gang!'

The other man gave him a small snort, as if to ridicule him of his crazy notion.

'And she brought food, Kyo-han! Look, have an orange…'

As Benitora busied himself with loading food into the red eyed man's arms, Yukimura pulled Yuya aside. 'That man is Kigan Kyo,' he told her quietly. 'He- wait! Yuya-san!'

She had snapped out of it when she registered the two men she hated above all things in the world right now handling her dear groceries like their own. She was about to rush at them with a roar like one of a speeding garbage truck, when she was caught around the middle by Yukimura's strong arm, pulled back quite forcibly, with another hand covering her furiously protesting mouth to stop her from screaming bloody murder at them.

Yukimura was visibly panting by the time she had arranged her thoughts enough to rip herself co-ordinatedely from his restraints. She was, however, prevented from yelling- or something- at him for stopping her by his low hiss.

'He's not a man you'd want to mess with,' He shushed her to be able to keep talking. 'You must have seen his power- he could be on par with me, and he doesn't hold back any of it when he's serious. Unlike me, he has short patience. Quite an outstanding figure, even in our gang. We constantly wrestle for dominance.' He cracked a smile.

Yuya paused in her firing of death glares at Kyo. 'You mean, he's not the leader?'

'Oh, no. Although I admit he has the air of one, it's undecided at the moment.' Yukimura laughed softly.

'He has beaten Tora-san a fair few time at it, though no one acknowledged it.'

_(No wonder.)_

They both watched as Kyo dropped the food onto the table grumpily, but kept the orange in his hand.

'Name one reason why I should let her stay, and not throw her out and feed her to the hoboes right now.'

'Hoboes wouldn't eat people, unlike you, Kyo-san. And she could scare Tora-san off for us,' Yukimura offered.

Ignoring Benitora's cries of outrage, Kyo scoffed. 'I'd like to see her try.'

Benitora grumbled something incomprehensible and returned to his seat and snacks. Kyo tentatively picked at the orange, and the pair at the table lapsed into disgruntled silence.

Okuni sidled up to Yukimura and Yuya. 'Yuya-san, may I ask you something? You must admit your line of work is not one that pays…much. At all. How did you manage to buy all these?' She gestured at the food.

Yuya crossed her arms, still mad about her own buyings disappearing into the mouth of some bandana head she had just met. 'What?' she snapped. 'I got them off that sale they had for FcDonald employees…what?'

Kyo spat out the bit of orange he had finally popped into his mouth. Benitora's grabbing hands froze in the air over a melon, his chomping teeth pausing as well. Yukimura and Sasuke froze in their actions (staring, so there wasn't much left to do), then glanced at each other with identical looks of understanding, and hidden implications of a smirk and fascinated disgust. Okuni kept right on talking, though in a sweeter voice this time.

'You mean the one where they pretty much hand out expired stuff to underpaid workers for some extra money?'

Yuya shrugged. 'I didn't think it would be bad. I mean, sure, a few of them had a bit of a tinge of one colour or another, but they had a solid feeling, and looked possibly edible, so-'

There was a sudden muffled sound, and Benitora, hand clamping down against his mouth, face an unhealthy shade of green, sprang up from the table. Knocking his chair down in his haste, he rushed out of the room before the others could blink. The next second, the sound of the door slamming downstairs sounded.

Kyo took more time in throwing his half-peeled orange against the wall, where it bounced, shooting Yuya a glare that would have meant the death of an old lady with a weak heart, before striding off through the doorway after Benitora. Shortly afterwards, a bang fifty times louder than the last reached the second landing. Yuya winced. Yukimura burst out laughing, and Sasuke turned away to hide something.

'Oh dear,' Okuni sighed. Though she was smiling, she seemed the least amused out of the three, including Sasuke. 'It looks like we've gotten off the wrong foot there. Still, I'm sure you can amend it in time. Meanwhile,' She shook her long shirt sleeve down to reveal a shiny, expensive looking watch on her thin wrist. 'I think I'll go for the night. There'll be rumors cropping up from the recent incident we were discussing about before, Yukimura-san, Sasuke-kun, and if I can fine tune them by separating lies and truths, we should find ourselves with a good batch of information ready for the next mission. Well, good night all.' She winked at Yuya, then walked out with a tinkle of a wave back at the other two.

'Well, Yuya-san,' Yukimura said, as the door of the room shut with a gentle click. 'You must be very tired after the ordeal you had to go through tonight. You can, as Sasuke mentioned before, rest in the room next door- I'm sorry if the bed is filthy, but I daresay it's enough for you to sleep comfortably in. You can take a shower, too- fourth door down. Um, I would probably get rid of this,' he pointed at the half eaten groceries lying on the table. 'We'll get you something to eat the next morning.'

Yuya made a face at the though of her money going down the drain, thanks to those two, but still felt grateful about a free breakfast. 'Thanks for your hospitality. Quite unlike some people, I'm glad to know.' She glared at the closed door again. 'What was that guy with the I'm-so-almighty aura's name? Kyu?'

'Kigan Kyo. And I'm going on a hunch here, but I guess your first encounter with him wasn't the happiest time of your life,' Yukimura chuckled. 'Now, would you like to get some rest?'

'Oh- yes, sorry for keeping you up for so long.'

'It isn't a problem. There's only two beds in the next room, hmm… How about Sasuke and I sleep here, then you'll have the room all to yourself.'

Yuya shook her head vigorously. 'I couldn't possibly…besides, where will the two of you sleep in here?'

'Oh, I'm sure we'll figure something out. Share the sofa, as one thing.'

'In your dreams, Yukimura.'

'Why not?'

'I'm not a kid anymore!'

'You go to school, you have me to tell you to clean your room, do your homework and to clean the back of your blackened neck every single night, you are so a kid. And if you aren't then you really shouldn't be sleeping in the same room as a woman.'

'Shut up! If that's true, then I should even less be sleeping with you. The floor's rock cold, there's only one sleepable place here, and don't even begin the whole "I'm your father figure" thing, I know you better than that.'

As this bantering filled the TV room, Yuya quickly shuffled towards the door, half wondering if she should volunteer to sleep on the sofa, but desperately wanting to take that shower as well. 'Ok, then, I think I'll go search for some towels now-'

'Just a moment, Yuya-san,' Yukimura called her back, stopping their mock argument immediately. He leant onto the back of the sofa and regarded Sasuke first with a disappointed expression. 'Alright, Sasuke, I'll keep that promise you made to me before as a birthday present about cuddling up together to sleep for sometime else, right? In the meantime, try not to scare Yuya-san out of her sleep with your snores, as you always do that to me.' Acknowledging the boy's loud protests with only a cheeky wink, he turns back to Yuya. 'Yuya-san, before you get your well deserved rest…I have to apologise. For dragging you into this. I didn't quite see the rest accepting you even for the night. I was prepared to persuade them to let you stay with all that is in my power…I didn't expect them to make so much trouble for you, landing you in a gang and all.'

'What? Yukimura-san, there's nothing to apologise for! Really, I'm actually very grateful to you…it's just what I need.' Yukimura's face was in the dark- she couldn't make out his expression now and deduce from it what he was thinking. She could see, however that he wasn't smiling anymore. She forced one on herself. 'I'm just worried about if I can keep up with everyone or not. I really have no talents in force.'

Yukimura spoke again. 'If you're feeling pressured-'

'I don't,' Yuya said quickly.

She could almost feel his eyes scrutinizing her, perhaps trying to read her thoughts. Finally, he sighed, and crossed his arms together. 'Very well, then. If you're not feeling particularly at unease, then I guess I could accept that. But can I ask- is there any particular reason you want to join us?'

'I- no,' Yuya backtracked, and stated firmly. 'Not really, no. I'm sorry, but is it alright if I go take a shower, now?'

There was a short pause. Yuya had begun to wonder if he was displeased- until she saw the warm smile that was back on his shadowed lips.

'…Alright. Will you allow me to join you?...No, I guess not.' He laughed openly at Yuya's expression and Sasuke's low growl of 'Yukimura…'

'Good night, Yuya-san. Don't worry about if you can keep up or not, we'll all be happy to give you any help we can offer. Sasuke'll go with you to find some towels and new clothes from the box in the cupboard- but under no circumstances are you to enter the bathroom with her in it, do you hear Sasuke? Don't give me that look, frowning that much at such a young age will give you lines by the time you're in high school. Don't let the bed bugs bite, now.' He waved them cheerfully out, Sasuke's grumbles and 'Don't let him bother you, he's just being immature' s following them both out into the corridor.

As the door closed for the final time that night, Yukimura's waving hand rose to comb his hair. Letting a strange look pass over his face first, he then moved off the sofa and towards his bunched- up coat, which he had thrown onto a wooden chair as he entered the room first. Dipping his hands into the depths of it, he quietly pulled out a roughly wrapped package from an inside pocket. Stepping away and leaning down, he shoved it under the sofa- and in the same movement, tugged out a heavy, worn blanket. Wrapping himself into it, he lay back down onto the cushioned furniture in front of the still working television. Snuggling up to a corner, a carefree yawn dropped from his stretched mouth, and he closed his eyes as a last, relaxed thought crossed his slowly blackening mind.

_(Shiina Yuya… I wonder how she will cope from now on..)_

The city outside was deadly silent; as the beaten gang roused themselves to stagger away from the site, a lone dog howled up at the moonless night sky. The forlorn note ascended through the hazy atmosphere, and raindrops fell for again from their various resting points from concrete ledges on high rise buildings, to the small lined leaves hanging on the few planted trees around the dark city streets.

* * *

And we have Chapter three! I stayed up all night yesterday to finish this... Fellow writers, I have learnt to trust Word docs. more than just writing the damn story on this Edit/Preview page on . My work got deleted three times before I could actually save them...it was hell. Introducing Microsoft! That's a first for me.

Okay, so I made some characters OOC this time. Either I don't know them very well or my writing skills only go so far as typing letters. I guess working with Benitora is easier than most, as he is such a _simple _character. (ホンマに単純やなぁ～)

I'm watching the NHK History Drama Tenchijin right now. Does anyone know it? It's the one that follows the story through the Sengoku period about this guy who works for Uesugi during their fights against Nobunaga and Tokugawa. I'm not very attentive to it, but apparently this episode is the one where the guy who works for Uesugi- Kagekazu? no, that is the actual Uesugi head- finds out that Sanada Yukimura had been placed as hostage to this other family, even after he had been sent back to the Sanada by Uesugi, who also had kept him hostage before. Not only that, but the guy who works for Uesugi actually trained the youth. Therefore, this act of being placed as a hostage to another house, even if by his parents orders, could be treated as an act of betrayal. But Uesugi Kagekazu decides to forgive the youth anyway. After a bit, the guy who works for Uesugi found Yukimura's elder sister- Hatsune, i think she was called- bleeding outside his door. He takes her in and treats her, but then the Sanada shinobi comes to retrieve her. Yukimura is with them, and he reveals that his elder sister had ran away from some castle and that he must take her back to "be rid of her". The guy who works for Uesugi refuses to hand her over, and asks if Yukimura had lost his human heart, following orders that will lead to his own sister's death like that. Yukimura then asks for the guy to change his alliance to the other family Yukimura is now being held hostage at- the head of that house had promised Yukimura a reward if he succeeds to convince the guy to do so. Yukimura intends the "reward" to be his sister's safety. Despite that, the guy refuses to betray Uesugi. Yukimura then asks if the guy knew why Hatsune ran away. He says it was because she had fallen in love with the guy- his passion for other people, his caring heart. I think Yukimura went away then, and the guy talked with Hatsune- he said that she must leave Sanada, and that he will find a place where she will come in no danger again for her to stay at. And I lost track of the story there.

History, TV show or not, never did good to me. I just watched this one because it seemed miles more interesting than the work I was supposed to be doing then. ...The lot acting the guy who works for Uesugi (right, I'll look up the name later), and Yukimura (A bit- then again, manga's much better than in real life) and the guy who works for Uesugi when he was a kid, and Uesugi Kagekazu himself when he was a kid, are cute. Yes, when I say 'when he was a kid', I mean that the boys acting that part, are cute. Don't get me wrong there, I'm just saying that- oh, never mind.

Anyway, I know that I said that Yukimura is like, 24 in this story earlier, while Yuya is 19, while in the manga he's actually 37, and Yuya is I forgot. There's NO WAY I'm going to make my favourite characters that old. Kamijyou probably made it like that not because he (he's a guy, right?) wanted to, but to fit the timeline on which the story was set. Here, Yukimura is much younger, Yuya and Benitora are about the same, Kyo and Okuni are probably a little older than them- I'm not sure if they're the same as Yukimura yet- and Sasuke is, twelve. By that way, remember I changed their names according to the characters? Here's some of the vocab (?) I guess you could call it like that.

出雲　阿国　（いくも　おくに　Ikumo Okuni） The real Izumo no Okuni was adancer who is said to have started the whole tradition of _kabuki _(a type of Japanese dancing which also tells a story). After a bit, the government or something decided to ban women in performing in _kabuki_, and Okuni disappears after that. I wonder if this was when she met Kyo? I'll have to check the timeline for the Battle of Sekigahara. She was rumored to have been a priestess before, possibly in the Izumo region. Izumo is a place in Japan in the Chuugoku region, and it's possession was determined before the Battle of Sekigahara by the Mori clan. Curtsey of Wikipedia. It is also the hometown of Yoh Asaskura, a character from Shaman King which I LOVE. Actually, I love his twin brother, Hao Asakura more than the manga itself. The characters for Izumo can also be read as Ikumo, which pretty much means 'Go(ing) out cloud'.

猿飛　佐助　（えんとび　サスケ　Entobi Sasuke） I really was wondering if I should change his name, as Entobi just doesn't cut it as much as Sarutobi. I mean, the character reading I was supposed to change is pretty much defining what he is (a monkey, no, just kidding) so I really had trouble writing this. I was halfway to deciding that I'll just keep it like I did with Yuya, but then I thought, no, Doubly, you have to learn to adapt- Yuya was a "special case" (ooh, that's sad) and it's in the modern world, remember? So I left it at this. I'm sorry if I depressed some readers, but I won't mention it much to appease myself, too. Need I say which part I changed?

鬼眼　狂　（きがん　きょう　Kigan Kyo） "Oni" (demon) can be read as "Ki", as well. "Me" (eye) can be read as "gan". Like Izumo no Okuni, I skipped through the old fashioned parts to make it sound more modern- although I wouldn't want the name myself. It still means 'Demon eyes', so it should be fine, right?

土下座　（どげざ　_dogeza_） the most formal form of apology or gratitude you could expect from Eastern areas. In Japan, where people act proud and dignified (I don't contradict myself), this is a bit of an embarrassing and degrading act if used for an apology. Bowing for gratitude and politeness, such as after a session of kendo, judo, karate, and any other martial art stuff is fine, though.

I think this chapter lasted a bit longer than the rest. Chapter 4 will probably come out later than these, as I haven't got a draft or anything, except for a tiny seed of a plan. I am planning to give Benitora a larger role this time- and it'll be the last time (hopefully) we see the Orochikiba gang. Whoops, am I giving away too much? It might change, then. Well, it's not as if many people reads this anyway, judging by the amount of reviews I have right now...*Goes and sulks in the corner*.

I am very thankful to .v, insane-dumbass (nice name), Rebirthing, and Random SDK Nut as my very first review givers. I never thought that writing fanfiction will be so fun! But recently, my fire seems to be dimming...If you read, please review. I don't care if you pretty much graffiti on it, I am begging you to just leave a note to show me how many people scanned through this at the very least. If you are kind enough to take this plea seriously, thank you, and I'll appreciate it very much if you could also tell me what caught your attention, good or bad, in this wacky story. now that I'm in my holidays, I'll work hard!

Wow, why are my author notes always so long? And full of boring stuff, too.

Please R&R! PLEASE!!!


	4. Enter The Tiger! And aprons

So I am starting a new chapter. I have absolutely nothing planned for any further ones, I'm just going with the flow. This one's good for Benitora fans. Not so much for Mekira's. I don't know what I did with the chapter title, I mean, the first bit's obvious, but the tail was just another hyper me decision…So it's really just for "fun".

I'm not exactly a big fan of Benitora, although I think he's funny. So I mostly don't pay attention to his fights, meaning I am uneducated in his techniques…oh well.

Remember when I said I will try to make it a YuyaxKyo? I am getting there, so hold in for a few more chapters. I think I'll try cramming in a YukiSasu, but I can't seem to find the right timing…I'll put in a warning when I do, so just skip those particular chapters if you are not a yaoi fan. I'll try to make the story as convenient for you to follow as I can.

New characters added in this chappie! I hope some of them are your favourites.

Disclaimer: Make me. I'm never going to give in. I will never admit that Samurai Deeper Kyo is not *Gets tortured horribly as robotic tickling hands are presented* ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! IT'S NOT MY PROPERTY! I- NO-OWN! Isn't that good enough?! Hey- hey, I said stop it already!!!

Please read on!

* * *

When Yuya woke up the next morning it took her a blurry few seconds till she remembered where the unfamiliar, dark room was. It took her a further moment to recall the events from the day before, and to take it all in for a second time, the nine or so hours of sleep having dulled her senses a bit. She sat up, stretched, and swung her legs down from the bed. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around blearily at the room once more.

It wasn't an unfriendly environment; it just didn't look as though it had been used much over the past weeks. There were no windows, being built in a bridge and all, but it was large enough anyway to fit two single beds- both shoved to opposite sides of the wall- and a rather big walk-in cupboard. She had been surprised immensely at the amount and variety of objects that had been kept in there, when Sasuke had presented them to her in the Box the other night.

'I think most of these are Ikumo Okuni's clothes, like those she bought at a flea market and only wore them once,' he said, tossing cardigans, turtlenecks, undershirts, tights, shorts, and other pieces of clothing over his shoulder. Yuya scrambled to catch them as they came flying, unnoticed behind Sasuke. 'Apart from the stuff that Yukimura brought back here as "souvenirs" from his old girlfriends. Those which managed to last for more than two days, at least. That happy idiot.' The last words came out as a mumble.

'Does it bother you, then, that Yukimura is always around girls, from what I've heard of it?' Yuya asked. 'I mean, Sasuke-kun is still so young, so…'

Sasuke sighed impatiently. 'I'm older in the heart than I look. Don't treat me like a helpless kid, Nee-chan. But it's because I am "so young" that I learned to get used to these kinds of things- Yukimura was like this ever since I met him, so I had years of time to adapt. Oh, here we go, Nee-chan,' He straightened up, and turned to face Yuya. In his fingers dangled a pretty small bra. 'This looks about your size.'

Yuya snatched the undergarment from out of his hand. 'No, it does not!'

Sasuke blinked, and sighed exasperatedly again, before turning back to rummage around in his hunt for towels.

_(Even so, he didn't have to go so far…I'll forgive him because he's still a kid, no matter what he says. The environment he grew up in must have had an influence on him, too.)_

What infuriated her most was that the bra did fit perfectly- she had gone to sleep in all her borrowed clothes after the shower. Sasuke, by the time she had come back, was already lying on his bed, faced away from the door and breathing deeply. Now, however, his sheets lay crumpled and empty. Yuya supposed that he must have already gotten up, and decided that she should do the same.

Brushing the rest of the sleep out of her eyes, she threw the covers back onto the bed and proceeded towards the bathroom, at the very end of the corridor. There was another room in between that, but Sasuke had advised against entering it.

'It's an incomplete room the workers just abandoned, so we can't use it for anything except for storage,' he had mentioned, as they walked past it to the bathroom, where he was going to warn her of the irregular malfunctions that occurred in all of the water mechanisms once in a while, and how to deal with them. She had also clarified with him that she was aware of the unsuccessful "systems" the district managers had thought up in an attempt to suppress the crime rates of the city before. 'I think it was supposed to be some sort of surveillance room- you know, video cameras and stuff. There's some rubble left over there now, so even we don't go in much. We just stash things we're finished with in the room, but pretty much avoid it after that, since it's annoying to stub your toe or trip on some debris in the pitch black every time we make a visit.'

The bathroom itself was a mess of scattered washroom tools. Almost every inch of it, where water will definitely not come in contact unless spurted around with a hose, was coated in dust ten centimeters thick, the space between the tiles black with preserved grime. The mirror was cracked in the corners, and would not close the cabinet behind it fully as it's hinges had rusted. The toilet seemed to have something growing on it, and the drain in the shower was clogged with black hair.

'That's not mine, at least,' Sasuke commented as Yuya picked up a dark hairball like as though it was a dead rodent. He pulled lightly on a strand of his own silky, whitish hair. 'Yukimura, for some reason, never lets me bathe in here. I don't see why, since going back home just to take a shower and coming back again seems so bothersome. But since he doesn't either, and Ikumo Okuni's always saying how she'd rather commit suicide than be forced to do any kind of business in here, that rules them out too. I'm not sure if Bonbon even takes off that handkerchief of his for a shower, so Kyo's a possibility. You really have it in for him, don't you?' he added, spotting Yuya's reflection in the fragment of a mirror.

'You have no idea,' Yuya said through gritted teeth, squeezing the hairball like it was the guy in question's head, before dropping it and flushing it down the toilet. It gurgled horribly.

Now standing at the sink, head lowered, eyes closed as cold water splashed against them, Yuya dove her hands back into the running water, which was supplied through pipes that the builders had managed to add in as well as the electricity wires before the closing down of the operation, a little too roughly as the memory of the despicable man came back to her. Turning the tap off and drying her face with a towel she had hung on the rack nearby the night before, she checked herself for the last time in the mirror, gave her reflection a refreshing smile, and hurried to the living room conjoined with the kitchen.

The light had been newly fixed in the TV room, and it's brightness illuminated the room that had seemed so gloomy before. The little television was off, but a small radio sat on the wooden table and replaced the moving pictures with a lively commentary of an amateur baseball match. Sasuke was at the table when she entered, packing some books into his black _randoseru_, with an empty plate and a glass of unfinished orange juice in front of him. He looked up as she walked near the table and sat herself in a chair, nodded at her 'Good morning', and called over towards the kitchen, 'Hey, Yukimura! She's up!'

'Hai, hai~!'

Yukimura came hurrying out of the kitchen, holding aloft a frying pan and a plate. 'Good morning, Yuya-san!' he greeted her cheerfully. He set the plate down and tipped the saucepan over. Some bacon and fried eggs fell out of it promptly. 'This is your breakfast, as promised.'

'Thank you, Yukimura-san,' she replied, and smiled as he turned to bustle back into the kitchen. 'Is that an apron?'

'Hmm? Yes, a floral patterned one. It suits me, doesn't it?' he grinned.

'Very much. The food looks delicious! Itadakimasu!'

'Oh, you must be much hungrier than that, seeing as you haven't eaten since last night. But I have to take Sasuke to school, so just feel free to make more here if you want any! The gas works perfectly fine, compared to everything else in this place.'

Yuya looked up from her chow down. 'Eh? Oh, yes, it's still a Friday… But,' she turned to Sasuke, listening to the radio moodily next to her. 'Aren't you old enough to walk to school yourself?'

Sasuke glanced at her irritably. 'It's the school regulations. A notice for it is handed out at the start of every term. We have to be accompanied by parents or guardians- or fellow students, any kind of companions- on our way to and back from school. It's the whole "living in a gang street" thing, so you wouldn't have heard of it.'

'Wow,' Yuya said, thinking back to her own primary school days. She had long gotten used to Sasuke's prickly manner since yesterday. 'That's kind of inconvenient, since you guys wouldn't be able to play around freely after school, would you? Not without supervision, anyway.' When she was small, she would have explored the _urayama_ of her school, sometimes with friends, sometimes alone. The deafening hum of the cicadas would have led her to concentrate for the nearest of the sounds while she was out to catch the insects, and sometimes she would go and play in the stream at the nearby park, this time to catch tadpoles, frogs, lobsters and other types of water creatures, as well as to dip her feet into the cool, running water, shielding them from the heat.

Here in the run down city, though, it seemed nothing like her old suburban home. She felt a certain kind of pity to the children who grew up here.

But Sasuke shrugged. 'Most of us stay out as much as we can till dark, and no one has gotten into trouble with gangs yet,' he said arguably. 'Besides, _I'm _fine, since being a part of the Gang of the City Samurai means they've got my back.'

'But it's not as if anyone who tries to attack you on first sight knows that,' Yukimura said, leaning through the open counter window. He eyed Sasuke sternly. It was enough for both Yuya and Sasuke to stop staring at the grinning teddy bear face on his chest, surrounded by a pink background with the flower patterns hanging around it. 'And, truthfully, I'd prefer you don't blab it to everyone you meet. It could make you a target instead, and I'll have even more trouble with my day job than I already do.'

Sasuke made a face. 'Yeah, yeah, I know. We try keeping it a secret to avoid these conflicts with the people around us,' he told Yuya. 'Yukimura says it'll make my school life much easier, while he can worry over his work and status with girls.'

'And if she's smart, then Yuya-san will do so too,' Yukimura added. 'It is for the best, you know, Yuya-san. Try to keep your life outside as simple as possible. Don't let anyone know you're part of a gang now unless you're in a pinch, but also try to avoid all that in the first place. And, oh yeah,' he started rustling in his trouser's pockets. 'We have something for you here…'

He drew out a narrow, brown envelope and tossed it through the counter window. When Yuya caught it, it sagged down as though something small and heavy was in it.

'That's the key to the door downstairs. It might be a bit fast to give it to you, seeing as you were only made a part of the gang yesterday, but if you need someplace to hide, then use this place as a last resort. _Only _as a last resort. When you do, be sure that no one will see you, that no one is following you- we like to keep our little hideout a secret, so that no intruders comes knocking at the door to "bother" us.

'Don't lose, or give that key away to anyone, Yuya-san. Keep it some place safe. Maybe not your wallet,' he added hastily. 'You should also know that money is the thing that most of the ruffians in the street will be after- so keep that out of sight. Oh, and remember to lock the door when going out, always. Are you done packing, Sasuke? We need to get going if you don't want to be late.'

'Right, right,' Sasuke swung his bag onto his bag and gulped down the rest of his orange juice. 'Bye, Nee-chan,' he said to Yuya. 'Are you going home now?'

'Do you remember the way?' Yukimura asked in turn.

Yuya nodded, mouth full with bacon. Swallowing it down, she smiled at the two. 'I think I'll go quit my job today. I decided on it last night, but I'm hoping that I can find another one in town as well. Is it fine for me to hang around the city to search for one?'

'Today? I think it might, but don't stay out for too long. I have a feeling that Mekira wouldn't waste his time lying in bed…but, on the other hand, he may decide to lay off you since yesterday's fuss.' He smiled as he saw that Yuya looked a bit relieved. 'Well, time to go, Sasuke.'

'See you.' He waved back without turning around, and followed Yukimura (now rid of the pink teddy bear apron) out of the room.

Yuya waved, even though neither of them was looking. She then headed towards the kitchen, to fulfill the needs of her grumbling stomach.

Yukimura locked the door once he stepped out of the bridge house. He and Sasuke proceeded up the grass slope and turned to cross the bridge itself.

Last night's rain had left the ground slippery and obviously wet- Sasuke stomped into a puddle for no reason other than because he wanted to, although he was careful not to splash any on Yukimura, who was strolling next to him. The sun shone brightly on them through the morning air, which was much cooler than in the afternoon when the heat really gets going.

'You think it's a good idea to let her walk around freely like that?' Sasuke asked. 'I know you don't just "have a feeling"- an arrogant guy like Mekira, from what I heard, will be out for payback for the humiliation even if he was bleeding in the head.'

Yukimura sighed. 'If by some good luck, she managed to avoid them today, then I'll speak to her later about keeping her guard up for later times. If it comes to that, then she'll really be in trouble. However,' A smile danced on his smooth lips. 'Wouldn't it be interesting? If something does happen today… Wouldn't it just engrave Yuya-san's involvement with the gang even more? Because, although I do believe the Orochikiba gang won't stay at rest all the time, I do think that Yuya-san won't go down, just like that.'

Sasuke glanced incredulously up at the pleasantly smiling man and shook his head. 'You're unbelievable, you are,' he told the man. 'You might not be the only one I know who will place a girl in danger just because he wants to see how things will turn out, but you are the only guy I know who will say that with a straight, merry face like that.'

Yukimura laughed cheerily. 'Aww, Sasuke, you know that I don't really think like that! Of course I'm worried about Yuya-san's well being… I just happen to be more curious about the outcome, that's all.'

'That's exactly what I mean.'

'Come on, now, get your hands out of your pockets so that I can hold them. Don't slouch, you won't get any taller if you do! Here, up we streeeetch!'

'Ow! Owowow, you're going to pull off my arm! Let go!'

The two walked on, the smaller contradicting the other loudly, while his chuckles sounded across the bridge, around the satisfyingly cool atmosphere.

Yuya managed to keep in mind the instructions Yukimura had said to her regarding the key. She decided to stuff it into her sock for now, after locking the door and starting down the route she had memorized the night before back to her apartment. It consisted mostly of alleys, as Yukimura seemed to have regarded them as shortcuts, but it still took a good half an hour to weave her way through them to the site they had started from yesterday. Luckily, she met no shady, gun wielding men on the way- it almost seemed that the refreshing, sunny sky had chased them into hiding underneath shadows in corners and the like. Still, she stepped around the site of where the commotion had occurred the day before, taking a different path to reach her home. She wasn't sure if the other gang was still sleeping there, but certainly wasn't going to take any chances.

Finally reaching the door to her room, she fished around in her pocket for the key. The door swung open with a bang, but it wasn't the one leading to her room. It was of her next door neighbors''. A small, blondish head came dancing out, the figure dressed up in a rather frilly, pink dress tied with a big bow around the middle, a cute, high voice calling through the open door, 'Bikara~, hurry up! We're going to be late!'

She stops her bobbing immediately as she catches sight of Yuya, looking, startled, at the small girl, key still halfway in the lock of her own door. The younger girl returned her gaze, but with an unfamiliar expression to Yuya. Not wanting the girl to feel uncomfortable, she smiled a 'Good morning' to her, and proceeded to open the door.

'Um,' A small voice started. Yuya looked back at the little darling, who was now partially hiding behind her own open door. 'Are- are you the person who was attacked last night?'

Yuya hesitated, then recalled the racket she had made when the Orochikiba gang was after her. 'Ah! Well, yes. I'm sorry I made so much noise, did I wake you or anything-?'

She stopped, as what she could see off the peering girl's face, looked like she was about to cry.

'Did they- do anything to you?' She stifled herself with a fist in the mouth as a sob escaped her.

Yuya pitied the poor thing, and wondered how she could cheer her up. She smiled gently and shook her head. 'No, don't worry. I got away,' she said, remembering what Yukimura and Sasuke had said about not blabbing about her new gang life to everyone and anyone she meets. 'Oh, don't cry,' she added hastily, kneeling down to stroke the tearful girl's head. 'See, I'm not hurt- a nice friend came to my rescue and scared them off for me!'

The little girl hiccupped. 'Sorry…'

'For what?'

'For- for not being able to help you. You live right next to us, and we couldn't…'

She gave a huge sob, and buried her face in her hands. Yuya patted her head warmly.

'I don't blame you for anything, love. There was nothing a cute, little girl like you could have done against those mean men. But my friend could, since he was a strong grown up, so I'm safe now, aren't I?'

The small girl looked up, a relieved smile flooding onto her delicate face. 'That's, good,' she sniffled. 'You're a nice lady,' she added, touching Yuya's resting hand on her shoulder.

Yuya giggled softly. 'Oh, thank you.' _(See, Sasuke? There's nothing wrong with being called cute or little! And she doesn't look much older than you!)_

The other girl's expression turned back again to one of anxiety. 'But, but…Bikara and I thought that we heard some more people coming up here, though Bikara said that they left while I was asleep. Did they-?'

Yuya shook her head reassuringly. 'No, no. I was away, then, staying at my friend's house.' _(So, Yukimura-san _was_ right about them coming to "visit" here…) '_But he thought that it should be safe to go back now, so…' she shrugged. 'Here I am.'

The girl giggled. 'I'm called Antera-chan!' she announced, taking Yuya's hand and shaking it with both of her's, brushing away the last of her tears with her sleeve. 'I live next doors with my daddy-thingy, Bikara. What's Onee-chan's name?'

Yuya returned the shake. 'I'm Shiina Yuya. Nice to meet you, Antera-chan,' she smiled. Then a thought struck her. 'Don't you have school today?'

Antera smiled, and shook her head. 'I'm going to the dentist's today! Not that I have cavities or anything, just for a check up…' she added quickly, as though she was worried that Yuya might take it as the former way.

As Yuya nodded understandingly and straightened up, a voice in Antera's doorway asked, 'Who're you talking to there, Antera?'

It was a deep, but oddly feminine voice. It wasn't at all like Okuni's, which was just deep enough as a woman's, and had an adult quality to it. This one, though, sounded…fake. Phony. Like a child trying out their mother's tone. Still, Yuya ignored it, and didn't think it was anything abnormal, until-

_(???)_

Out lumbered a gigantic man, wearing nothing on his great, sun-tanned chest, his abs showing out magnificently around the toned stomach. His ears had numerous piercings, as well as a couple on the broad forehead of his squarish, rough face. His towering figure was tall enough to be able to scrape the ceiling of the corridor; indeed, he had to lower his head to avoid banging it on the lights. He held his fierce gaze on Yuya's stricken face.

_(Antera-chan, I can understand….but shouldn't you be tough enough to scare away those gangsters instead????)_

Antera tugged (bravely, in Yuya's opinion) on the large man's trousers. 'Bikara, this is Shiina Yuya-nee-chan! She is,' Antera whispered loudly. 'The person who was attacked by those men last night!'

The giant glared down at her, and Yuya found herself wondering if he was going to grab her around the neck and break it, and then cook her in a enormous pot for dinner. To her astonishment, however, his face cracked into a humble, guilty smile- or at least a horrible grimace that may have looked close to one.

'Oh, you are? I'm so glad you're safe! I was fretting about what happened for the whole night- did you manage to get away from them? I'm terribly sorry I couldn't come out to help, but I was worried about what will happen to Antera here, and the men outside sounded so scary! I couldn't possibly…'

Yuya raised her hands up in front of her in a motion to let herself speak in between the apologetic excuses. 'I don't blame anyone, really, I understand. I wouldn't want any harm to come to you, Antera-chan or anyone else who tried to help because of me. Um, I guess I should formerly introduce myself as your next door neighbour. I believe we haven't met before, Mr…Bikara?'

The man nodded. 'That's my name. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Shiina,' He leant down, and beckoned Yuya to come closer. '…Miss Shiina, you are a girl, aren't you?'

Yuya shot backwards, and stammered, 'Wha, ah… ye-yes, of course I am!' She flushed when she saw Bikara grinning mischievously at her while straightening up again, his head narrowly avoiding the light above.

'Sorry, Miss Shiina,' Bikara tittered. 'I was just joking. You see, I'm the Mama-san of the most popular gay bar around the place. I wonder if you have heard of it? No?' He asked, sounding a bit let down. 'Ah, well…I guess that's only fair, seeing as you're not gay, let alone a man. But, if you know anyone who may be interested in visiting, please let them know!' He gave a wink that seemed as though it had stars jumping out of it, and which gave Yuya the worst case of shivers down her back for many, many years. For politeness sake, she tried not to let it show and camouflaged it with a slightly shaky smile.

'I..I guess I would…' _(If I ever find the guts to ask anyone to know if they're gay in the first place…)_

'Ne, Bikara, what did you ask Onee-chan just now?' The Innocent Antera enquired, jerking on Bikara's pants again with big, questioning eyes.

'Nothing, Antera! I wouldn't want to give you any useless and untrue suspicions! Well, good bye, Shiina-san, I hope we meet again sometime soon!'

'Aww, do we have to go already? Hmph. Bye-bye, then, Onee-chan, I'm going to the dentist's now~!'

'Be good, then. See you soon,' Yuya called from across the landing, as she watched Antera's bobbling, curly pigtails round the corner down the stairs, and Bikara having to duck his head down to move across it. Feeling slightly cheerful from having met with her friendly, although slightly weirdish (at least one of them was) neighbours for the first time with a good impression, she finally walked through her own door to retrieve some of her most needed possessions for the long day ahead of her. Perhaps to grab a little rest in more familiar surroundings, too.

The manager was just about crying as she guiltily crossed the barren restaurant and walked out of it, this time devoid of her fast food uniform. She had tried to break it to him as gently as possible, and would have felt extremely sorry for the man if she was not in desperate need of more money- that and her rush to get out of the premises before her conscience caught up with her. She knew it was the right thing to do for herself, that she should take heed of Okuni's and Yukimura's words and find herself of a job of more credits, that she would starve to death if she did not earn herself enough money to by an _ice cream _soon- that is, before she kills herself with the consumption of expired food that may give her an incurable case of food poisoning. So _why, _why the hell did she feel this way?

Shaking her head to rid herself of the ridiculous notion of feeling sorry for quitting the only job she could find in a short while, and leaving a poor, tearful man alone in the run down restaurant, she continued her walk down towards the bigger, busier part of the city, to take a little window shopping stroll around some decent looking markets- window shopping stroll for a _Help wanted! _sign, at least.

She didn't notice the figure far behind her, only a tiny dot in the distance at first, but gradually getting larger, until it revealed a young man running towards her at break-neck speed, propelling hands hardly visible, as were his feet, which was pounding on the concrete street beneath him like hammers on nails. However, no matter how fast he was going, his scream reached her before his hurtling body did.

'YUYA-HAAAAAN!!!'

She whipped around, and was instantly met with a gust of wind, with dust, dead leaves and flying grit swept into it, hitting her face as the figure accidentally ran past her, swerved and skidded to a final halt right in front of her. Much closer to our point of view, we are now able to identify him to be wearing the usual green pants, a white, ragged shirt with a few red strokes added fashionably to it, which matched the much more coloured bandana tied around his narrow head, with equally narrow eyes, and a mouth stretched into a wide grin.

'Yuya-han! I didn't expect to see you today, especially not around here! Not that I wasn't hoping for it, of course! I would never be able to feel like that, not even if I did something terribly wrong without realising and was very afraid of you hurting me for it! Hopefully, I may never give myself to feel like _that, _either. You know, I was just thinking about you, like I was since I stopped throwing up yesterday, about how cute you might look if you smiled (at me), or if you had your hair down, or if you were wearing a frilly black dress with a laced white apron and had the first two done as well, or- hey, Yuya-han? What happened to you?'

He stopped his incessant chattering and peered at Yuya closely. She was breathing very heavily, her eyes shadowed, ponytailed hair bushy and wild, with bits of leaves and dirt clinging to it- and on her arms, and legs, and face, and her clothes, as well. Her windswept form left Benitora staring in confusion for a little while, before he started laughing to blow it off.

'What happened to you, Yuya-han? Did a typhoon arrive while I was away, and catch you in the middle of it? Or did you decide to roll around in that puddle over there because you couldn't be bothered with a morning bath? It's not good for yourself if you do that, you know. You could catch a cold, much less end up looking like _that_, haha- oh, wait, I mean, well…Yuya-han…?'

*****

'I'm sorry, Yuya-han…' _(Was it something I said…?)_

'You should be!' Yuya angrily attempted to flatten her spiky hair as they walked down a wider, tiled street. 'Don't you know that I probably would have to undergo about a million interviews to find the perfect job? And if I get kicked off for "problems in appearance", then it'll be your fault!'

'Umm…I think a million is a bit of an exaggeration. Most of the supermarkets around here have open spaces, and they pay enough for the workers there to last a week easily…oh, you have something here, Yuya-san…'

As he reached to pluck a curled, dry leaf from Yuya's still untamed hair, she slapped his hand furiously as soon as it came in contact with it. 'Don't touch me!'

'But…but there was a leaf, Yuya-han,' Poor Benitora stammered, bewildered, as he let it drop from his fingers to the ground. 'You don't know what could be living on there…Little worms or larvae, insects and bacteria of all kinds, making their slimy way to your soft, pretty hair-'

'AAARGH! I _DON'T _want to hear that again! Why are you here, anyway, Baka-tora?'

'It's Benitora…ahem,' he coughed, straightening up and regaining his jolly tone again. 'I am in the middle of that five rounds I promised to run for insulting you yesterday, and my deepest apologies for that as well, Yuya-han. I'm almost there, I've been running since three in the morning today!'

Yuya glanced at him sceptically. 'You're actually doing that? And how long does five runs take you anyway?'

'Five rounds around our – the Gang of the City Samurai- territory, Yuya-han,' Benitora corrected. 'You won't believe how large it is when we show you, next time we get the chance. We _are _one of the strongest, and infamous, of all the gangs in this area, you know. I wouldn't be the slightest bit afraid if I betted my life's savings on that no one in the whole of Japan wouldn't know about us, if this gang thing that's so popular in this area was spread around the rest of the country. Yuya-han? Are you listening?' He bent his head closer to her, anxiously looking for a sign that she was. 'Did I anger you again? Should I add more to my laps?'

Yuya spared him a look. 'Suit yourself,' she said, and couldn't help feeling that maybe she was being a bit too colder than necessary to Benitora. The now grinning man, however, didn't seem to care for her tone much right now.

'Alright!' he said happily, and began to lift his knees high as he walked, preparing for the jog ahead. 'Is this the first job you'll be trying out for, then?' he added, as Yuya started to veer off towards a pet shop they had just reached.

Yuya sighed. 'Yeah, probably. I guess I'll see you around then.' She wanted nothing more than getting away from the always happy-go-lucky man, so to snap out of her uncaring attitude that she was now beginning to feel uncomfortable with, as it felt more and more strained as time around him went by. Benitora grinned, waved a 'Bye' to her, and rushed on down the street, leaving a cloud of dust behind him. Yuya was careful not to lose herself in it this time; she stepped hurriedly away from it and into the shop, the small bell above the door tinkling lightly as it opened and closed again.

It was around five shops and four hours later when Yuya decided that taking care of yet-to-be-sold pets, Chinese 3000 years of medicine, practicing the art of making chopsticks, being the advertising bunny rabbit girl for an aerobics lesson, and starting a new career as an employee at a newly opened restaurant, Burger Queen, were not all what she was cut out to be. Therefore, after eating at the previously mentioned café and going around in circles for a couple of hours _more_, she finally decided to take Benitora's hidden advice, and hesitantly, grudgingly, dragged her feet to the nearest supermarket, though she was still unsure of the turnout.

So she was surprised when, after a brief detailing of her name, age, occupation and status (none) to the manager, she was easily granted her new job in the supermarket _Shiseiten Maruetsu_.

'It'd be very helpful if you could start work tomorrow. You said you could do that? Good. You won't need any uniforms- just pick off a blue apron like the ones the others are wearing from the rack outside the employees' entrance.' The man behind the desk said to her, waving a careless hand towards the window of the door to his office, where outside, Yuya could indeed see the blurred figures of employees moving around, wearing the aprons. 'Otherwise, you just need to put this on,' He slid her an empty name tag across the desk. 'And you're good to go.'

'Thank you, umm…' Yuya searched around for the manager's name to be written somewhere around the room, as discreetly as she could. While she couldn't find it, she did spot a shelf with files in the otherwise almost empty room. His desk and the two chairs on either side of it were the only other furniture in it. A low, but bright light shone down onto them, reflecting off the man's pale hair, lighting up his kind, smiling face. The odd thing was, his eyes were closed, as it had been since he had led her from the cashier, where she had asked for him, to this small room at the side.

(A/N: Hint hint. What do _you _think his name is?)

'You may call me Akira, Shiina Yuya-san. I prefer to uphold a friendly connection with all of my employees, especially new ones. I hope you may find that everyone here is very accommodating if you need anything, so please let yourself feel comfortable for work.'

'Thank you, Akira-san,' Yuya smiled, though she wasn't sure if he could actually see it.

As if to read her thoughts, Akira gestured at his closed eyes. 'Ah, you must also be wondering about this too, aren't you? Yes, I cannot see. But I am used to it, so there is no need for any wariness for my safety or otherwise. You will get used to it as all the others did, I assure you. I don't wear sunglasses because they may make me look like a shady character- and, as I have said just now, I intend to keep the interaction between my employees as welcoming as possible.'

'You are very caring to the workers, I can see, Akira-san. Thank you, I think I will get used to my new job faster than I thought,' Yuya said, not ungratefully.

Akira chuckled. 'That's good to hear. Now, I'd rather you get here before seven in the morning- either me or my assistant will be here earlier anyway, opening the shop about an hour and a half before that. We'll appreciate it if we get the other workers helping to set things up. At seven sharp, everyone will assemble near the cashier for my assistant to give each of you your respective jobs for the day- if you've finished with them, then go to him for other jobs to busy yourself with. The shop closes at ten, though some people may leave earlier than that because they work part time, or because of situations of their own. Will any of this be a problem to you?'

Yuya shook her head, but then remembered that her new boss was blind- she replied 'No' for good measure. After a few more questions from her answered, she thanks Akira again for giving her the job (which, she found out, pays a good lot more than Benitora had made it out to be), she walked out happily, practically skipping in joy, and promptly banged into another person standing outside the door.

'Ow- oh- sorry about that-'

'No, no, I was the one who was inattentive, it's my fault-'

'No, it's mine-'

'No-'

After a couple of minutes of arguing over whose fault it really was, each vouching that it was their own, they finally settled with that it was each other's fault, as well as their own because they had both started the whole thing by saying it was, and they weren't about to give in to the other and admit that they were wrong about that, and so it made each other and themselves very confused, and decided to just ignore the matter all together.

'Was I holding you up here for long?' Yuy'a asked the other person, a girl in a blue apron and a name tag, so clearly an employee. 'I'm sorry, I went in to ask for a job here…'

'Oh, no, I just arrived myself,' the girl smiled. She looked a few years younger than Yuya herself, and quite likely a high school student. Her long brown hair was permed, fitting her cute, blushing face. 'I was just coming to greet Akira-san and then get on with my work, but then the assistant manager told me that someone was in there so I had to wait outside. Not that you took so long, it was really only a second or too until, well…'

'Oh, yes…really sorry about that, um…Aya-chan?' Yuya looked up from the name tag of the girl and smiled.

Aya nodded. 'Don't worry about it. I was standing right beside the door, it was my fault as well. So, um, you're starting work here? What's your name?'

'Shiina Yuya. I'm starting tomorrow, so I guess we'll be working together from now on, huh?'

'Oh, yes. We don't have many people here, and it's a pretty big store for it, but everyone's very warm so I can assure you that everything will be fine. Well, I was nervous myself when I started this part time, so I suppose that you might want to hear this… I'm Kuonji Aya. Sorry for the late introduction, and it's nice to meet you,' she said, shyly.

'I guess you're still at school, then?' Yuya asked. 'It's nice to see that a young girl like you take work life seriously as well as your studies.'

Aya smiled. 'You make yourself sound old, Yuya-san. You aren't so much, just a bit more than me. And, well, I started because my parents told me that I should start earning my own pocket money by myself.' She reddened, probably because she had to mention her parents.

Yuya shrugged. 'It's still good experience, I think. Oh, um, are you going to greet Akira-san?' She pointed at the closed door right in front of the two of them.

Aya yelped. 'Oh, yeah! I have to get on with my work. Bye, Yuya-san, I'll see you tomorrow!' She rushed inside Akira's office as Yuya raised her hand in farewell.

Humming, and certainly in a good mood today, Yuya stepped out from between the automatic doors and headed back down the way she came. But not before looking up at the setting sun, and freezing.

She had to stop herself from crying out, 'Holy crap!' in the middle of the street, as she flung up her arm to check the time on her watch. It was still around six, but the afternoon was already physically dimming into the night. There were a considerable number of people left, hurrying in the streets, but this was a far more active part of the town- the place she lived in was surely to be deserted by now. She cursed once more, perhaps for luck, and started sprinting down as fast as Benitora had went, not so far from her present location, but hours ago.

She had to take a few breaks- it was farther than she had expected, having wandered around aimlessly quite a few times during the day. She was panting and was starting to feel weak in the legs as she staggered up the slope, just a few blocks away from her apartment- when a hand snaked out from behind and grabbed her around the mouth.

She tried to scream, but the hand was firm and strong, as was the rest of the person behind her, snarling in an effort to wrench her back towards a dark street in the sidelines of a normal view of a person, often unattacked. Another pair of hands stretched around her to help his comrade pull.

As her back hit the wall, deep inside the cloaked, narrow gap between buildings, she struggled just enough to get part of her upper lip out from the unknown man's grasp, and bit down sharply on the hand. The hands releasing in surprise as a yell of pain emitted from the guy, Yuya made a tremendous effort to get out of the small path, but was hit, once more, by a fist from the side. Hitting the ground heavily as a groan escaped her clenched teeth, she instantly felt a much rougher, violent hand grasping her neck from behind. She choked, twisted on the floor, but it only made things worse. The grip tightened, giving her little room to breathe.

'Hey there, missy,' A familiar, but yet strangely changed snarl sounded above her, a voice that sounded no longer like a voice, but of bare feelings of hate, bitterness, and excitement. 'Did you think you were safe, just because you were saved that time by that piece of shit from the Samurais?' Did you?' She was twisted around, onto her back, and was forced to stare up into the wild, crazy eyed face of Mekira. 'You shouldn't have, missy…We won't ever let you get away again!'

Yuya, still gasping for air, surveyed her surroundings rapidly with just her eyes. While behind her, blocking her way to the open street, were only two of his cronies, in front of her, and above her, was Mekira and perhaps ten or so of his underlings. Between the spluttering and wheezes, she managed to croak out, 'Hands…off.'

Mekira's eyebrows were raised to an extent that he had to be doing it all on purpose. 'And who's the little fry who's ordering us around, like the princess she is, eh?' he leered.

Still struggling, Yuya tried to make the noises coming out of her throat sound a bit more like comprehensible words. 'I-I'm with _them_, now!' She retched, having put too much pressure on the emphasis.

The man laughed, abnormally high pitched, loud and long. 'You think we'll buy that? Just because one of their gang picked you up, doesn't mean that you're a part of them! We don't even know the names of the members of their gang- you think that one as secretive as that will offer you a place in it so easily? Ha! Yeah ri-'

He cut himself off with a grunt, as Yuya kicked in, as hard as she could, between his legs. Being somewhat underneath him, she had a clear shot. But even as she scrambled up and tried to tear away from the two still guarding the exit, she only made it halfway through, as they each tackled her from both sides.

'Get _off _of me!' she screamed, the shrill sound bouncing off the empty walls of the surrounding buildings, as she thrashed violently even when she felt herself being dragged across the dirt back into the alley.

She put this up for a few seconds, furious tears forming in her eyes, until she suddenly fell limp, helpless, having lost her strength and hope. There were yells of glee as the men behind saw this, and she gasped as hard kicks were landed on her with dull, heavy thuds. She dared herself to look back, to stare once more into the men's sickening, grinning faces.

What she saw, swinging right at her mouth, was a sharp, bony fist.

'Nn-!'

Breaking free from the restraining arms with a sudden spurt of energy, she clasped her bleeding lips. Drawing her knees closer to her torso, into a small ball, though the feel of protection was now non-existent to her, she shied away from the laughing, terrible figures, stepping ever closer to her.

Mekira was in front of them all, eyes gleaming maniacally, his grin showing way too much teeth.

'I'd love to play with you more, missy, but we can't stay here for much longer,' he hissed, the muscles in his eyeballs straining to keep from them popping out of his head. 'In that case, we should finish our meeting here as swiftly as we can, right?' His laugh had too many dips and rises; he was breathing heavily through his nose. He brought his left hand, which had been hidden behind his back for a while now. A recognisable knife, one Yuya had seen before, was gripped tightly in it. 'No one to save you now…Goodbye, you trouble making missy…!!'

Yuya was about to squeeze her eyes shut, to save herself from the view of the swishing knife, when the man's head suddenly jerked back, as if something had come into contact with it. Mekira himself never saw it coming, for he had only glimpsed a small pebble flying at his head from nowhere- it had looked like nothing that could do him much harm at first glance, but then, that was before it hit him squarely on the forehead with all the speed of a small bullet train.

Yuya didn't _quite _get what had happened, but she was already scuffling to get back out to the open space. Only when she was out did she begin to wonder, but it didn't take long for the answer to pop up, literally, in front of her.

'Yuya-han! Come this way, quickly!'

'Be-Benitora!?' Yuya gasped, as Benitora grabbed her around her wrist and pulled her down the street, away from the enclosed space.

'Why are you here?' Yuya demanded. 'Was it you, what did you do to that guy-'

Benitora smiled back at her as they continued their escape. 'I only threw an itsy pebble, that's all. Simple things in life work strangely if you use them with the right pressure, at just the right angle. And I was just going to check on you, Yuya-han! I finished twelve rounds, I told you I could do it!'

'And I thought Yukimura-san was the happy idiot…'

'What was that, Yuya-han?'

'Nothing! At all. Hey, Benitora…where are you taking me?'

Benitora's footing lost a step; he tripped up his next few paces to regain his balance again. 'Eh? I thought you knew…'

'How am I supposed to?' Yuya snapped, tugging on his arm to get him moving again. 'You're the one holding on to me! You're running in front of me!'

'I'm sorry, sorry! Here-' He made a sharp turn, dragging a frantic Yuya with him, and started down another passage hidden in between buildings. 'We'll just keep going down this lane, and see how things go!'

'What kind of plan is that?? We're going to be killed! You can't hit all of them with chipped pieces off the pavement, you know!'

'I'll work on it while we're getting away, Yuya-san!'

A period of running, with a few arguments during it, later, the two were panting against a wall, Yuya clutching her way around the alleyway. The sky was a brilliant image of red and orange, finally merging with the darkest blues, but none of the last, cherished light entered the little dark path- they could only walk through the steadily lengthening shadows of the buildings before them. At long last, Yuya finally collapsed against the rough surface standing beside her. 'Do you have a plan _now,_ Benitora??'

He was looking back around the corner they had just rounded, listening anxiously, frowning in concentration. 'Not yet,' he replied shortly.

Yuya sighed irritably, trying to hide her worry. 'Well! That _is _a surprise. And there I was thinking I could outrun them, if I had the great Benitora-sama alongside me! Really, don't think I'm not appreciative of the save earlier on, but,' her piercing glare turned from him, and up towards the sky hidden by the towering form of the building. 'You're a complete idiot. We shouldn't have run into a place like this, we should have called for some _reliable _help. Like the police, even. But no, we're just going to stick around in this dirty hole of a street, and wait until they come with their knives ready for cutting, and then-'

She was cut off, startled, when a thin, long finger was placed gently on her lips. Glowering down, though she made no movement to remove it, she just spoke against the pressing finger, 'What are you-'

'Yuya-han,' came Benitora's voice from beside her, quieter than usual, and much serious sounding. 'I admit I may lack the brains that Yukimura-han or Kyo-han, and maybe even Okuni-han and the brat, but what the police can't do, I can. They won't be able to help either of us; I, however, am intent on protecting you at whatever cost. I will get you out of here, unharmed. They're coming; I can hear them. I want you to leave this to me, and run by yourself- make your way to the Bridge. Go, quickly-' Now even Yuya could sense the enemy's presence, low snufflings and unheard remarks reached her. 'I'll keep them off, till you're safe. You have the key, don't you?'

'Yes, but,' Yuya grabbed his arm as he started to turn away. 'I can't leave you here with all of them! You're defenseless! You'll be crushed!' She made him look at her squarely in the eye. 'I didn't mean to set you up for this. I'm staying to fight with you.'

Benitora gave a small smile. 'If you did that, then there's really no point in me staying here at all, is there? If I am to be crushed, as you put it, for the person I hold dear to my heart, then so be it. However,' The sounds from around the corner were getting larger, approaching fast. 'I have no intentions to be defeated by those dogs. I _am _a Samurai, and I'll see to it that they won't ever hurt you again.' He licked the blood from his fingers, her blood, which he had wiped off her cut lip. 'Now, go. I promise, I'll see you safely in the Bridge. For nothing,' A full out, easy, ear-to-ear grin. 'Can prevent this Benitora-sama from seeing his love!'

'Benitora…' Yuya was still uncertain. How would he ever…?

'Go! Yuya-han,' Benitora shouted, leaping in front of her to guard her back. The view of his strong, determined back shoved Yuya to her decision; to run, to trust him, that she will see him again.

_(Benitora…you idiot!)_

The yell was, of course, heard by the Orochikiba gang. With whooping battle cries, they raced out from behind the corner. Yet their last scene of Yuya was her disappearing back as she sprinted around the other one, behind the battle-ready, unwavering form of Benitora.

'After her…!' Mekira cried.

'Like as though I'll let you,' Benitora growled, spreading his legs apart wider, to take up more space.

Mekira stopped, as did his underlings behind him, all staring at him for his next order. Mekira, however, did not seem to be able to give one at the moment. He was busy scrutinizing the opposing man's face through the weakening light. He seemed to recognize it.

'Benitora…?' he murmured, in mild wonder.

The called man took up a fighting stance. 'Gihyou-nii',' he responded stubbornly.

Mekira shook his head, slowly, at him. 'Oh, little Benitora, what are you doing out here, in the dark?' he hissed, advancing on him. 'Well, since we are old acquaintances, I'll let you go freely today- we're in a bit of a hurry ourselves, did you see that girl that went running just now?' His larger than usual eyes narrowed down again, just a tiny bit. 'And the man that helped her…ah, and what fate befalls us…his back figure looked just like yours…'

'That sounded a little poetic, Gihyou-nii,' Benitora said jokingly. 'It _is _quite a coincident, isn't it? Who else do you know where's an outfit like this?'

'Maybe somebody who works at a fish store. But you, Benitora, are from quite a different world to that, aren't you?' Mekira breathed out deeply, still coming closer. 'Tell me, little Benitora,' he said, his tone changing to a warier one suddenly. 'Are you friends with that girl? You should be aware that she has cheated on us a number of times, running away before we could settle matters with her, and so acquired our enmity…something that surely you don't want, now, is it?'

Benitora tucked a hand in behind his back, searching for something. 'Not a step closer, Gihyou-nii,' he said sharply, bringing forth a very short, metal stick about the length of a baton. It had slight red markings on it, resembling the stripes on his shirt and bandana. 'And to answer your question about the girl? Yes, I'm her friend,' he grinned, eyes opening to observe Mekira's reaction. 'And one day I hope to be more than that, to her.' He took hold of each end of the stick with both hands, and pulled; with many a clicks and clacks, layers of more of the pole was revealed to be hidden inside the first, finally finishing with a rounded end, wrapped up with cloth, on top of a metal rod longer than Benitora's full height. He took a stance, with the clothed end pointing at Mekira's chest. 'Your enmity? Ha, I could get that any day, just like Yuya-han did, escaping narrowly from your evil methods…and I couldn't care less about it, if I am to achieve it by protecting the person I love!'

All of the opponents hissed at his defiance, Mekira, in particular, looked displeased at his act. 'Last chance, Benitora' he snarled.'Get out of our way or-'

But Benitora had not waited to listen to the rest of Mekira's threats- he rushed straight at him, his pole deftly weighed in his hands. Yet Mekira was not taken aback at this silent attack; he leapt back, into the midst of his pawing cronies, and finally gave out the awaited order- 'Kill him!'

The first five that charged at him were easily deflected- they were repelled , hurtling back to the back wall, hitting their heads on it and stirred only once at most, clearly not getting up any time soon. However, Benitora's attacks were getting less nimble, easier to predict, as the remaining lot poured down on him. As he wrestled with three at once, two more came at him with their sharpened knives flashing around them- his face, arms and chests had numerous long, but shallow, cuts scratched upon them. Even as he rid himself of a pair by banging their heads together, he was overwhelmed by the remaining.

On a side order from Mekira, two more darted forward- but went completely past the flaying Benitora. Instead, they made to reach the other end of the street, and turn the corner- intent on following wherever Yuya had gone.

Benitora noticed them, and realized- and he went into a frenzy.

Pushing his current opponents away from him with a sudden burst of strength, he made to catch up with them, pole at ready. 'DON'T EVEN THINK OF IT!' he roared.

The first man he caught up to, he dealt with a strong, swinging, arm. It caught his nose, breaking it; he crumpled, pressing at the flowing blood, still quite conscious. The other didn't even see it coming- but he did feel it.

It felt like it was played in slow motion. Benitora's arm stretched, the long stick thrusting forwards, it' cloth ripping as _the right pressure_ was applied to it, positioned at _just the right angle. _From it, three sharp, shining white pikes emerged- and was buried once more, in cloth, muscle and blood.

The man felt the warm pressure build up in his throat before the actual pain reached his brain; combining that with the shock, and the coughing up of the blood was enough to make him feel more than dizzy. The lance had gone right through him- ripping through his arteries first as it struck him in the back, through various tissues and muscles before penetrating his windpipe and re-emerging out front. His vision was hazy as he toppled forwards, so he didn't exactly see the other end of the pike sticking out from his chest, and was pretty much dead by the time he hit the floor, so he didn't have to feel the blade being yanked out again, or the horrified stares of his comrades on him, and of that of his killer.

Benitora was hating himself immensely for a few seconds after the man had fallen, bloody pike in hand, until his mind automatically reminded his embittered heart of Yuya, running for her life, and all his regret was swallowed up by rage and a different kind of hatred. He turned slowly to the other man, the one with the broken nose, who looked up at him fearfully, begging him please don't, have mercy, please- and with a swift slash across his throat, he fell silent again, the blood spurting all around him, and dribbling on the ground. He, like his mate killed before him, barely had time to form a scream as he died.

Breathing hard, and full of resolute, the blood splattered man turned slowly to the standing remainders of the group. The count went down to nine, five unconscious- three subordinates still up and one cowering Mekira. He took a patient step towards them.

'No one…' Benitora's voice sounded. His eyes glaring, fiercer than ever before, fixed unblinkingly at Mekira. 'No one…especially not you, Gihyou-nii, will hurt Yuya-han again!!!'

Mekira made a sound that suspiciously resembled an 'eep'. 'Get...get him! Go!' he screeched at his unsure, frightened minions. The pitiful drones, knowing nothing apart from listening to their leader's orders, took their last unwilling, quick steps towards the man with the spear, knives held for what blockage they could use to save their bodies. Benitora eyed them mercilessly, all of his humour gone, left far behind the slaughter now taking place in the enclosed street.

'Guaaah!'

'No- Uaahh!'

'Ah, you- Aaaaargh!!'

After a brief and grotesque episode of Benitora stabbing the pitiful, mindless men to rest, he swiveled back round for Mekira- and finding himself with two groaning, rising men, the other three still unconscious. The awakened men blinked, gaped, unable to understand the situation immediately as the blood covered alley opened up before their hazy sights.

'What the-ah-'

'Fu-UWAAAAH!!'

Two more bodies hit the ground heavily, sliced across their chests. After a period of writhing, the gasping bodies lost their energy, and slowly died. By which time, the lance had pierced through each of the other three men on the ground- only one woke to the pain, before quickly dimming out again, the bloody scene etched into his closing mind. The others died peacefully, in their sleep, not aware that they will never wake again.

Benitora's heart, however, had no such thing "peaceful" to it. It was a maelstrom of mixed feelings, turbulence in his weighing of good and bad, his actions- and of Mekira, and Yuya. Worry for the girl prevailed over the tiredness, and the disbelief of what he had just done. Letting this lead to the case of Mekira, Benitora cursed to have overlooked the most important danger. But, he reasoned with himself, he had been standing in the way of the path Yuya had taken- no one had gone past him since his first kill. Therefore…

He turned on his heels around the corner from which he had came, following Mekira's tracks down the walled street. Leaving behind the bodies of the men, dyed red to match their surroundings, he started to hunt down the whereabouts of the scarpered Leader of the fallen Orochikiba gang.

The small seed of regret was blown off of him as he thought of Yuya and her safety, and how he could leave this all behind as soon as he found her. With this to urge him on to finish the job quickly, he speeded up; and an animal like howl rose up towards the stars beginning to show themselves in the night sky.

******

The door was wrenched open- and the slamming sound echoed on both sides of it, into the twilight outside, up the stairs inside the still, silent room. Yuya slid down it, coughing-but didn't waste much time there. Still out of breath, she staggered and clanged up the stairs, a hoarse voice shouting as she went. 'Yukimura-san?! Sasuke-kun!'

No reply. As she burst into the main room, it was pitch black. No sign of anyone having been here for a while was evident to Yuya, who rushed to the bedroom, and eventually the bathroom, skipping the third as it was unlikely for anyone to be there.

'Okuni-san!? Is anyone here??'

She paused on the tiled floors of the washroom, breathing hard in the musky, stale air. The ruined mirror showed only her panting, searching figure. No one else was in the bridge house.

She stepped out, all motives lost to desperation. The sudden feeling of loneliness in the spacious corridors caught up with her, and she made no movement, unsure of her next action. Head bowed, the slight outline of the girl shifted slowly to the edge of the stairs, hand clutching the railings so hard her knuckles went pale. In a husky, weak voice, a last attempt was made.

'K-Kyo…?'

The deafening silence rang through the empty hall. All doors remained closed, and nothing budged, in the shadows, apart from the despairing, crumpling girl, with her face buried into her grubby, soiled hands.

_(Isn't anyone here to help me…?)_

Benitora would be hurt, she was sure of it. He would not stand a chance… Yukimura's voice sounded in her memory, his unusually grave tone filling the room, as the TV flashed on around her, and the other three, casting their shadows to dance wildly on the wall behind them- _'Accidents with them could result in heavy injuries…or even fatal ones.'_

A hollow, gaping feeling opened in Yuya's heart. _Why,_ she kept repeating to herself, like a mantra, _Why is there no one to save him…?_

_Why do you need somebody else to do that? _A voice, mocking, taunting, intervened her train of thought. _Why cannot you go by yourself? Why are you so weak, not to be able to do anything with your own power?_

_Why didn't I stay? _Yuya thought on, with a wrenching jolt to every word, to every understanding. _I could have helped him, I was the only one who could…_

Salty tears dropped from her closing eyes, falling to her hands and trickling down. In the darkness, her gasps were all that sounded around her. But, through negative thoughts, an image broke through- friendly, smiling eyes, set upon a determined face of Benitora.

_(Yuya-han…)_

Even he was willing to stand up to fight, to protect her. He will be giving his all, for her.

_(I have no intentions to be defeated by those dogs. I _am_ a Samurai...)_

Yet, what could he do? How could he hold his own against that lot?

_(I promise I'll see you safely in the Bridge.)_

That was his promise. An empty, senseless promise that was used to convince stupid, cowardly her to run and leave him at the hands of his murderers. She was here, now, in the safety of the Bridge hideout- where is he?

_Still fighting,_ her mind's voice answered itself. _Still alive, for your sake. Are you as shameful as to reject his efforts? His power in trust, to survive?_

Yuya did not know where this knowledge came from, in the situation of her unaware of Benitora's condition, which was the root of her being upset. But, the certainty tore through her downbeat feelings, and showed her a new light, her new duty to wait, with faith, that her "friend" will come back.

_(No,)_

Her legs straightened out; her hand grabbed at the railing, and she rose, and walked on down the stairs. But though she had reached the steel door, she did not even touch the knob to open it, but instead pressed her palms on the smooth surface to lean against it. Her eyes squinting through the peephole on it, she searched for any sign of people approaching the Bridge.

_(I'm not. I have faith in him- I know he'll come back. I can't do anything to help him, but right now, I can only believe in his promise._

_Thank you, Baka-tora.)_

*****

Benitora caught up with Mekira just a few streets away from the first scene. However, he had been led on a merry goose chase before then, and only as Mekira returned from the roundabout did he finally manage to get closer to his heaving back. The two men faced off with each other, both standing their ground on opposite sides of the road, much wider than the street before, both breathing hard, leaning against a wall or supporting their bodies with their hands on knees. After almost a full minute or so, a high, breaking sound crack through the steady paces of their gasps. It rose even more, and Mekira threw his head back, mouth wide open, the maniac laughter escaping out of it.

'Splendid!' he yelled. 'Absolutely amazing! Benitora, I never thought you had it in you!' The mad cackling went on. Benitora's face had a look of one struggling to understand.

'That was the best blood festival I have ever seen,' Mekira continued, his long, thin fingers holding his forehead, shadowing an eye. 'So wonderful, to see that those useless men actually had an ultimate purpose!' He took in a ragged breath, lowering his hand from his head. 'To show me that displays of ruthless, cold hearted murder- all dealt by you, Benitora!'

Benitora was looking at him with disgust and loathing. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'Those men were your friends, or at least they risked their lives for your stupid orders! Whatever they were, they were human, people you had spent time with- and you're treating them as though they're trash, throwing them away for a sick "purpose" like that!?' His grip on his lance, still clutched in his hands, tightened till his fingernails dug into his palm, drawing blood.

Mekira shrugged, leering at the sight of an even more infuriated opponent. 'Why, of course. People I spent time with? Don't make me laugh! They were only kept by my side for the strength I needed to work like this- I needed a dependable group, servants who could collect the power I deserved for me! And while you're tossing insults for _that,_ Benitora…what about yourself? If they were only human, with emotions and relatives and friends, what about you, who killed them all mercilessly, without a care in the world?'

'I do have a care in the world,' Benitora snarled. 'I'm not going to say that that makes it alright for me to kill them, but I had vowed to myself,' He raised his weapon, pointing it directly at Mekira's heart. 'I won't let _anyone_ lay a hand on my Yuya-han!'

'Yuya? Is that her name, then. I will remember that for my next meeting; we aren't quite done yet. But, regrettably, I'm afraid that will be dealt with after I take care of you!' With his last words ascending to a holler, Mekira charged straight at Benitora, leaping high into the air and bringing his knife down. Benitora parried it with a loud clang; he was not taken aback.

'I won't let that happen!' He gritted his teeth, and with a huge effort, threw Mekira over his back. The Snake-face tumbled around a few times before regaining his balance; he skidded round to tear back towards the other man. Keeping a low stance, and dodging the blows Benitora lashed out, his knife thrust out just as he got close enough. The sharp edge nicking the side of his stomach, Benitora hissed in slight pain, and leapt back a few feet to avoid any other attacks. Both men stood apart, out of breath already.

'You have improved much since the last time we fought each other, little Benitora,' Mekira said softly. 'Although it was just a fist fight to be specific, you seem to be holding your own for quite a long time now.' His grin stretched across his face. 'Like I said before, Benitora, you can now kill in cold blood. I tried to teach you this before, there is no such thing as survival if you cannot be a murderer here.'

'Shut- shut up,' Benitora gasped. 'And I said before, I'm not like you- I don't base my actions on meaningless things. I do things in my own way, for my reasons.' His opened eyes glared out from beneath the shadow. 'I won't be anything like you, Gihyou-nii. Thinking you're too cool to hang out with anyone you could beat up, thinking you're the master over everyone because you pick the best fights… I only wish I should've disagreed with you earlier. You know, everyone was at the verge of celebrating because you left, if they weren't so damn scared of you.' He straightened up, staring at Mekira, a look of pure rage. 'They saw a bully who had everyone's fate in his hands. I can see, now, that you're just an effing coward, good for nothing, except at stealing treasures which are rightfully other people's. You've got no right to live, much less than your brainless buddies back there.' He steadied his pike.

Mekira's eyes narrowed. 'What can you say about me at all, Benitora?' he spat, face twisting to an equal look of hatred. 'You know nothing, brought up in a cushy home- I bet you're regretting leaving it now, aren't you? Joining some god forsaken gang, practically living on the streets; a dirty life like this is too hard for a young master to understand, a waste of thinking for the rich little boy who has slaves to lick his shoes from the day he was born!'

Benitora, amazingly, cracked a smile. 'I get something along those lines almost everyday, from a brat who I could never understand, too, just as he can't understand me. The same goes for you and I, Mekira,' he said, pronouncing the man's gang name for the first time. 'Right now, and probably on till the day I die, I won't care for whatever obstacles you had to go through in the past, to become who you are now- I only know that whatever you did ever since I've known you, it was rotten and sick to the bone. Unforgivable, and I'll make you pay for it.'

Mekira gave a short laugh. 'I guess this it then- the final showdown between us. Of course, I never expected a prideful young master like you to work anything about me, or of that of my ways, out- I merely wanted to make a statement. You say that I will not know anything about you-' His smile turned scornful again. 'Does that mean that anyone else will? I have never met one who does to me, and you are no exception.'

'Perhaps, a day will come when somebody will,' Benitora replied calmly. 'Some things I did… I regret them. Perhaps that person will declare to finish me, too, for myself to pay my sins with my hurt, and death. But until then, I plan to fight- to live on, by defeating you first.'

Mekira smiled. 'How touching. But I sincerely doubt that you will ever get that far, as I will kill you here, right now.' He took a stance, prepared to run, knife cocked towards Benitora's direction. Raised above his shoulder, it gleamed in the moonlight, shining down on their last fight underneath a velvet of a clear, dark sky. '…Get ready, Hidetada.'

Benitora shuffled his left foot behind the other, spear held steady low down. 'You too, Gihyou-nii.'

The wind blew, and unseen dust swirled around in the gap between them.

Before they had settled once more, the two had left their positions, and were running at each other on full speed.

'UAAAAAAAAAHH!!!'

'HAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!'

Their battle cries mingled with the other's as blade met metal stiff, pikes blocked by knife. Sparks as metal hit each other flashed through the dark, never endingly emitted as the attacks were blocked, the weapons rarely staying together for long. On the few occasions they did, the two men stared into each other's eyes, a million feelings exchanged between them before they sprang apart again.

'Give up, Benitora,' Mekira shouted as he spotted him stumbling in between a turn. 'You can't win against me, no matter how strong you became!'

'We'll see about that!' came his heated reply.

Growling in irritation, Benitora ran around Mekira, trying to catch his back. In one fraction of a moment, it seemed as though he had- but as he sprinted forward for that one chance, Mekira whirled around, the tip of his knife cutting into his arm. Crying out, Benitora sprang back again, much farther away this time. As Mekira made no sudden moves to follow him, he lifted his arm to examine the wound. Luckily, it was not so deep, though some blood still dripped out of it.

'Your movements are too sloppy, little Benitora,' Mekira yelled across at him. 'You have no chance, do you hear! I'm stronger than you, faster, and more experienced! I'm better than you, and I'm going to kill you! You hear me!?'

'Yeah, I hear you loud and clear, Gihyou-nii,' Benitora mumbled. 'The insanity I can hear can't be healthy for you. It doesn't matter if you're better than me,' he answered loudly. 'No muscle strength will ever stop me from protecting my loved one!'

'"Your loved one", ha! Let me teach you one more thing before you die, Benitora. In this world, there is no such thing as love. Love is a useless feeling that only muddles and deceives weak ones into grave mistakes they can never again crawl out of. Love is unreliable, untrue to the world- so it's better just to ignore it altogether, to keep your head clear and straight forward with fighting and hating. If you had enough time to love some pitiful woman, then you should have worked more on your battling styles- reusing the tricks I told you isn't going to save you!'

'Oh, don't worry Gihyou-nii – I've still got some up my sleeves yet!' Benitora grinned, and licked the blood trickling down his arm. 'I think…it's time to finish this,' he added softly, before taking off.

'Tch…impatient fool. Eager enough to rush to his death, I see,' Mekira sneered, as he saw the other man sprint towards him, face contorted in concentration as he approached him, fast. He blinked. 'What-?'

If he had time to, he may have paused to rub his eyes. For it seemed as though that not only one Benitora was heading towards him, but three.

_(Don't tell me…)_

Mekira glanced over his shoulder. Sure enough, four more of the forms was leaping towards him, surrounding him.

But his lips twisted into a smile, as understanding struck him.

'"Shadows", Benitora? Such an old trick? I'll just cut through them, you know!'

If he had been up closer to him, he might have spotted the curling at the end of Benitora's lips, too.

_(This isn't just ordinary "Shadows", Mekira…this is a technique that's going to cost you your life…!)_

He let out his battle scream, just as Mekira rushed at him, cutting down the two in front, dispersing them back to the blackness. Knife drawn, and this time, ready to hit a sure strike with all his might, his steps flew like the wind, as Benitora also took his final one-

_(Hassun-!!)_

The two forms collided, then streaked past each other; a still moment lengthened as they simply stood, backs to each other. Then, with heavy groans of pain, the figure of Benitora crumpled, grabbling at the cut in his side. Mekira turned to him with distaste, and eyed him like as though he was some appalling creature half hidden in the soil of a garden.

'You were lucky. I flunked that one. Don't worry, seeing as you're in no condition to fight anymore…how about I end it quickly, right now?'

A pause; then a laugh dropped from the kneeling man's lips. 'How can you do that, when you're the one already beaten?'

He frowned. 'What are you-'

'Take a good look at yourself, Mekira, and see for yourself what you have become.'

Prepared to rebuff the comment, Mekira looked himself down- and froze in fear. Somehow, unbeknownst to him, his body had became like a piece of paper clamped too many times with a hole puncher- the gaping openings showed right through him, his still pumping organisms bare for the human eye to see. His last strength was sapped from beholding this- with a loud moan, he fell forwards, having finally being put on a path that will slowly lead him to his death.

Through the retching, he looked up at the straightening back of his last opponent. 'You…you bastard, Benitora…'

Benitora did not turn. 'That's the difference between your power and mine. I have a reason- and one strong enough to help me through the pain I've brought upon myself. So I won't regret this, Gihyou-nii,' He was talking to himself now; the body on the ground was no longer heaving, and it lay still as it became one with the night. 'I won't regret my decision to let go of a part of my past.'

The next breeze that passed the scene didn't sense the presence of the other man. He was long gone, weaving himself through the alleys, clutching at the still bleeding wound on his side. Benitora felt his head drifting off sometimes as he walked on- he stumbled to the ground, or had to use something to regain his consciousness to keep walking, more than a few times. When at last he had reached the street looking over the dark river, he let a small smile escape onto his lips. The bridge towered a little way off, and, praying that he will see Yuya, unharmed, inside of it, he puffed up his chest with some effort and proceeded to march up towards the door.

It opened before he reached it; a bundle of light brown hair hurtled towards him.

'Benitora!'

Too surprised to make a sudden reply, the called man looked down in surprise as warm heat was pressed against his stomach, thin arms wrapping around the middle. Before he could relish in the delightful moment, however, the warmth left his body, and in exchange he was rewarded with a smart impact on the side of his head.

'What took you so long???'

The slap wasn't exactly unexpected, but Benitora gave a grimace anyway. 'Oww, Yuya-han, you shouldn't treat the injured this way…'

'It's because you were late, Bakatora! Injured? Don't give me that, here, let me see…' As she peered at him through the dark, Yuya's flushed, angry face turned swiftly to one of horror as she took in his form. Yet she investigated the wounds, her expression turning stony again. 'Well, that isn't much. Come inside and I'll have them treated.'

Benitora _was _taken aback by this. 'Eh? You would? I mean…Yuya-han, you're probably tired today. You don't have to do this for me, you should just go and rest.'

'No,' Yuya's face was hidden as she dragged him into the Bridge. 'I want to help,' she continued as they climbed to the second landing. 'I'm not going to shy away from this one, not like last time…The least I can do, is this.'

She stopped suddenly outside the bathroom. She did not open the door, or turn to Benitora, who was looking at her anxiously. 'Yuya-han…?'

She spoke, her voice sounding as though she was choking back tears. 'If it weren't for me, you would never had to trouble yourself with them… You would never have gotten hurt. I can't do anything, all I do is bring danger with me, to the people around me…' Her breath hitched, and she spoke no more.

Benitora laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. 'Yuya-han…' She did not react. 'Yuya-han, please look at me,' He said, tone a mite forceful. Her head shifted a little, but not fully. Benitora sighed. 'None of these are your fault. Most of this blood isn't even mine. Mekira was an unstable guy who would have attacked anyone that came across his path. You're not the first, Yuya-han - I've seen others, far worse off than you or I am now. I couldn't help them, but the numbers just went on piling up till I couldn't leave it alone any longer. I had a score to settle with him, Yuya-han. It would have ended this way, even if you let it be.' He let a laugh enter his voice. 'Truthfully, I'm glad to be over it- it feels good to be rid of a burden I've carried for so long. And you know? I think I would have never been able to own up to him, if it weren't for you, Yuya. I, and all the other would-have-been future victims of the Orochikiba gang, have you to thank for, relieving us of the pressure.'

Yuya faced him then, her eyes glistening from suppressed tears. '…I'm not in your way, or anything?'

His smile grew larger. 'Of course not! Yuya-han, you are my motivation! There, don't cry,' he added, as Yuya furiously scrubbed her eyes with her curled hands. 'You're a part of the Gang of the City Samurai, aren't you? You have to be strong, and support us if we get hurt, until the day comes for us to do the same for you…'

_(And I'll always guard your back if that happens. You can fight with your strong soul, but not necessary by yourself. I'll protect you until that day.)_

Yuya nodded, gave a sniff, and spoke back with her usual, brisk voice. 'Well- well then! Get in there so I can do just that! I- I'll go get the first aid kit…' She did not meet Benitora's eye.

He realized after a few seconds. 'Oh! Look in the cabinets in the kitchen, Yuya-han. It should be in the third from the entrance, but we've used it so much we can't seem to remember every place we put it…'

'Never mind- I'll find it myself.' She dodged around Benitora's bulk and ran towards the living room. After a short while, the clanging of metal echoed back to him, followed with Yuya's shriek.

'Oops…pots and pans. Sorry, Yuya-han…' He grinned, and opened the bathroom door. 'I'll be washing up first!' He called over his shoulder. 'Knock before entering, if you find it!'

Chuckling as a string of words followed him into the room, the door closed again with a quiet click.

*****

_'…The men's bodies are yet to be identified, but the police has determined the great possibility of their death to be brought upon by the same weapon. While a more specific estimated description of the weapon has yet to be announced to the public, the investigators of the body suggest that it was at least more than fifty centimetres long, sharp edged and had around three pointed knives attached to it. The neighbours expressed their shock at this brute murder of so many people while interviewed._

_'"It was truly a horrible sight to see. The floor was practically flooded with the blood, and there was hardly a patch left that wasn't red. I still can't believe that such a thing happened so close to our homes. It's…it was like slaughter for the pigs. It's wicked."'_

_'"I think I won't be able to sleep at night after seeing that. There were so many bodies lying on the ground. Very gruesome. I hope that the police finds the person who has done this, and quickly. I won't be able to rest peacefully until then."'_

_'On a different news, a body of one more man was discovered lying on a street of a residential area, quite near to the previous incident of the murder of ten men found dead in between the Eastern office building and the bistole behind it, Asa Ichiban. Investigators believe that this killing has connection with that, although they have determined that the wounds are quite different to the other event, as he had several circular, open holes in his body. The width of the holes ranged from six inches to thirteen, and the investigators suspect that they were made from large bullets or a drill of some kind, although there are other theories, and contradictions to this matter. Nevertheless, the police concluded that this murder could have been committed by an acquaintance, if not the same person, of the mass murderer of the ten men. They also have reason to believe that the dead people may have been in, or had connections to, the still rising problems of gangs in the area, which may have been the reason for their deaths. Police are still investigating the crime scenes, as well as the murderer's whereabouts._

_'Now, time for the weather. This was Minami Yumi with this morning's top news.'_

_'Good morning. This is today's weather, and a report on cloud movements and temperature. Up till midday, it seems that the Kanto region will be covered with a thin layer of cloud, which will disperse from time to time, yet there is no threat of rain…'_

Benitora whistled as the TV continued with the six o'clock news, flipping the bacon in the frying pan as it sizzled and smoked. The cheerfully smiling teddy bear face stared up at it from it's pink apron.

'Hello there, Tora-san,' a womanly voice sounded for the doorway. He turned to find Okuni leaning against the frame, smiling as she left it to sit at the table.

'Good morning, Okuni-han!' Benitora beamed at her through the counter. 'It looks as though it will be a much cooler day today, doesn't it?' He nodded at the TV, still rambling on about the climate of the evening.

Okuni glanced back at it. 'Oh, yes. Much healthier for my skin, too. A humid air isn't good for smooth ones as mine. Too much sun is bad, too.'

Benitora waved a hand as he set the pan down. 'Yeah, yeah, your beauty tips work wonder on people like me. Nice new shirt there. Makes you look big today, too.'

Okuni glared at him so hard that his head might have exploded from the intensity. '_Much _thanks for that. No wonder every girl you speak more than five words to end up wanting to run you through with a knife.'

'Oh, yeah, speaking of knives,' Benitora began, but was interrupted by the door opening again, and a merry voice trilling out, 'Morning, everyone!'

Yukimura bounced into the room, his beam casting a shining light on all that stood in his way. Sasuke followed grumpily after, his hand stuck in the pockets of his ultra-small shorts. 'Ah, Okuni-san, you're here too?' Yukimura asked brightly, spotting the woman with her elbows on the table. 'What a surprise! You're not, Tora-san,' he added as the other man opened his mouth to say something. Benitora shrugged, and turned back to his bacon, which was now smoking profusely. Ignoring the yells of panic emitting from the conjoined room, Yukimura asked the woman, 'What brings you here so early in the morning?'

Okuni took her arms off the wooden surface and leant back in her chair. 'I collected a good deal of rumours from that last incident. Thought I might share the ones I'm concerned about with you, before anything else happens.' She stretched, and gave a big yawn. 'Excuse me,' she said, rubbing her eyes. 'I've been up all night, going round places and such.'

'Haven't we all,' Yukimura agreed, smiling at her as he, too approached the table. 'Sorry, but maybe we should leave your briefing till we're all here. I don't know when Kyo-san is showing up, but hopefully soon. We can fill in one member with information quickly. But a night without sleep is especially bad for a woman's health, Okuni-san. You should take care of yourself more, you look a little peachy.'

'I'll take those words to heart, thank you. And what about you? It's a Saturday, and almost seven- you could still be asleep by now!'

'Yeah, but we have something to take care of here,' Yukimura answered. 'Sasuke lost his game here last night, and we're here to find it,' he continued, acting oblivious to the whooshing sound in the kitchen as Benitora's perked up ears deflated once more with emphasis. 'Silly boy.'

Sasuke spluttered behind him, and yanked his hands out of his pockets. 'What are you saying, you idiot! You took it away from me that day, so it's you who let it drop out of sight! Don't bring me into it!'

'Sasuke, there's no reason to be so upset over losing your friend…'

'It's _not _my friend! What kind of sad person do you take me for?!' (A/N: Sorry, unknown readers who take offence in this… I am one myself, so don't feel troubled, don't hate me…)

'Aside from that, it still cost ten thousand and eight hundred yen. If we used that money for something more constructive, then maybe you wouldn't have grown up to be such a kid.'

'_You're _the one who bought the damn game, for no reason apart from a gift. And we only got it a few weeks ago, how could it affect my behaviour? Wait- I'm _not _a kid!'

'We have gone through this many times before-'

There was a bang on the counter, as Benitora practically pounded the plate of ruined bacon on it. 'An-san,' he grinned, eyes half shadowed scarily. 'Is the only reason you came here today, to search for the noisy brat's stupid game???'

Yukimura, Sasuke, and Okuni all looked at each other, before turning back to Benitora. 'Yes,' Yukimura replied with a straight face. 'I guess it is.'

'Don't you think that there's a _little _something you'd like to congratulate- scratch that, just _talk_ to me about?'

Yukimura cocked his head to one side, appearing to think hard. 'I don't think so.'

'Think harder, then! It was on this morning's top news!'

'Is it about the whale that washed up on that beach in Osaka?' Sasuke asked.

'Or the sudden raise in the gasoline stations' prices,' Okuni guessed.

'Ooh, yeah, that's going to be a pain in the ars-'

Benitora passed a hand wearily down his face. 'No, seriously guys- about _Mekira_? About the whole _Orochikiba gang_?'

'What about them?' Yukimura continued to taunt him, even when he was aware that he was close to tearing through the man's patience.

'"Eleven men dead, practically speared in the alleys!"' Benitora snapped. The plate in his hands cracked from the pressure he was giving into it. 'Stop playing dumb, at least say something about it!'

'Oh, that. Yes, I'm thinking about including it in my next magazine. It's cutting it a bit close, since it's due to be released in two weeks time, but I think it'll be good enough.'

'I thought that one was a fashion magazine, Yukimura-san? What good is putting on an article about a mass murder in the dark streets?'

'What's wrong with introducing the new fashion of the century- blood splattered rough clothes with holes in their crucial parts?'

'Everything, especially coming from you, Yukimura-han,' Benitora grumbled, dumping the wasted bacons into the bin behind him. 'You're all taking this a bit lightly, don't you think?'

'Not really. I mean, we were kind of expecting you to commit something rash like that, ever since Yuya-san came,' Okuni replied peacefully, examining her nails. 'Speaking of which, where is she?'

'In the next room, sleeping like a baby, last time I checked on her. Last night was a real rush for her.'

'And you're used to it, are you? Good,' Yukimura went on, without waiting for an answer. 'But there is one thing I'd like to say. We are people who never rest from fighting, ever. We do not have the time, nor the heart, to care for other's well beings, if that means that you will be risking your life for them. The last thing was lucky- Mekira was a nutty madman who liked to waste his time on bullying one, young girl, just for the fun of finishing her off. If he was any stronger than that, he had a potential chance of killing you in place of him. If another enemy comes, and this time you can't stop them, then you have to remember that you fight alone, in this battle for survival.'

Everyone was staring at him as he finished, but his stone cold eyes only bored into Benitora's. Sasuke looked up at him with an unreadable expression, before dropping his gaze to the floor as he proceeded away to look for his lost object.

'I don't accept that,' Benitora replied at last, stubbornly. 'You were the one who used to treasure companions the most, Yukimura-han. You gave up a lot to protect those you loved. And now you're telling me that I'll have to throw the ones most precious to me away, if I want to live?'

'In time to come, Benitora, you'll learn to think that way,' Yukimura shot back, his tone kept level.

'No, _not _in time to come. Not ever,' Benitora growled, eyes never leaving Yukimura's face. 'I've vowed to myself to that I will save Yuya-han from ever falling down a path like mine. I will protect her, and if there comes a time when one of us must kick the other out of the way, let it be her who does the kicking. An untainted person like that deserves to live more than me.' The bitterness was evident in the words, his voice.

Yukimura's face relaxed quickly into a smile once more. His testing was over. 'Somehow, I'm glad you're thinking that way. I hope it doesn't change. So, then,' he rested his elbow on the table, his chin cupped in his hands in turn. 'What do you want us to do?'

Benitora blinked. 'Huh?'

'Do you want us to tell her about what you've done?' Okuni asked. 'Or do you want to keep the whole thing quiet, seeing as she's just woken up.'

'Either way, she's going to find out,' Sasuke piped up from the sofa, which he had his hand dug into. 'Aha! Gotcha!' He pulled out a dusty game from the gap between the cushion and the armrest, triumphant in his treasure hunt. 'It could be for the better or for the worse if she hears it out of your mouth rather than from some person she had never met before.'

'Actually, um…' Benitora fidgeted on the counter. 'I think I'm not really ready to tell her I'm a murderer. You know, for one thing, it'll spoil my chances with going out with her,' he grinned sheepishly. 'But for another, it's that I can't believe it myself, even now- I've never done so much before at once, even with you guys.'

'Ah, well, we'll just call that settled, should we?' Yukimura said brightly. 'We'll just wait till you pluck up your courage and tell Yuya-san that you've done so many and has too thick a skull to acknowledge it yourself. Other than that, we're clear!'

'…Really, Yukimura-han, your mood swings are getting kinda spooky.'

Just then, the door swung open again, making all of them swivel their heads around. Yuya, in a new set of clothes she had no doubt scourged from the now infamous Box, walked in with her arms raised in a stretch. Closing her mouth from a yawn, she blinked as she spotted the people in the room. 'Yukimura-san, Sasuke-kun, Okuni-san, you're all here today?'

'Good morning, Yuya-san,' Yukimura and Okuni chorused, while Sasuke only nodded his head, staring intently on his game. 'How was your day yesterday?' Yukimura asked, with a knowing smile.

Yuya snorted, looking into the kitchen as Benitora gave a thunderous round of 'Good morning!' when he sighted her. '_He _must have told you about it. Mekira and his gang-'

'Oh, yes, we heard about that,' Okuni waved her hand in front of her face, as if to brush it off. 'But Yukimura-san informed me that you went on a job hunt as well?'

'Eh? You're interested in that?'

'Why of course. As a member of our gang you should update us on your front life, so we may have means to contact you if the need arises. Also an estimated rate of your salary, please. We need to note down how wealthy you are, so when in requirement of money we can decide what percentage of the price you must pay.'

'You have to pay…well, I'm not quite sure of that yet, because the salary could change according to our efforts or sales. But from what I heard yesterday, it's not much, so don't expect me to be much of a help in financial matters.'

'Smart, Yuya-san,' Yukimura reached out to take the glass of water Benitora had presented on the counter for Yuya. Waving aside Benitora's scolding, he took a sip. 'You wouldn't believe the hell I'm in because of Okuni-san's calculations. A huge distortion in my bank account because of her.'

Okuni laughed, raising her hand to cover her mouth. 'Well, Yukimura-san, there really is no one else for the job of a treasurer, is there? If _you _were in charge you'd probably try your best to count yourself out, and then we wouldn't be as efficient as right now, will we?'

'Okuni-san declared herself "treasurer" before we could stop her,' Yukimura explained, sounding slightly tired. 'She, for some reason, thinks I'm biased. I do have to support two at my place, you know,' he said to Okuni, still smiling behind her hand. 'It's not easy with a money vacuum cleaner of a kid to pay for.'

'Hey!'

'Kidding. Just kidding, Sasuke. Stay in school.'

'Speaking of jobs, Yuya-san, when does your new one start?' Okuni asked, turning to the other woman.

'Um…the manager said that I can begin today, at around…' There was a pause. 'Excuse me, what time is it right now?'

'Past six thirty,' Yukimura eyed her concernedly. 'Don't tell me you're-'

'I'm _going_ to be late!' Yuya practically screamed, rushing back to the door and jerking it open. 'Sorry I can't stay long, everyone, but I have to-'

She was about to take her first step out of the room when she jolted back, clutching her head. Kyo looked down at her, both surprised and annoyed, as she peered up to verify the identity of the person she had run headfirst into. Disregarding the shadow that passed through her face, he spoke.

'Hey, ugly, I got you-'

'I haven't time for your stupid insults, get out of the way already!' Yuya snapped, and pushed past him down the stairs. The door slammed hurriedly after a brief moment.

'-a present,' Kyo finished, scowling down at the closed door. 'What's that brute's problem?' he grumbled, entering the living room with a narrow box in his hand. He set it down on the table as he, too sat down. Benitora finally joined the rest, carrying a plate of fruit in one hand, trying unsuccessfully to untie the pink apron ribbon with the other.

'Hey, hey, Kyo-han, don't call my girlfriend names like that,' Benitora said.

'She's your girlfriend now?'

'Yup! Though she doesn't know it herself.'

'She didn't even greet you.'

'Yes, she…so?'

'…But, Kyo-san, is that what I think it is?' Yukimura pointed at the plain box he had brought into the room, eyes widening considerably. 'And for Yuya-san…'

Kyo nodded. 'I got the cheapest I could find, though there shouldn't be any malfunctions. It should be enough to please her.'

Okuni sighed, and straightened up. 'That's so like you, Kyo-san…doing things only up to halfway. Hmm…' She stared about the room, thinking. 'We still aren't sure if we're keeping her, though, are we? Don't argue, Tora-san,' She silenced him with a look, and he closed his mouth with a disgruntled expression. 'You know that's how things are right now, since she hasn't done enough to please us. Call it, on probation? We'll see how things go the next time we move.'

'About that, Okuni,' Kyo turned his frowning gaze on her. 'I've a suspicion that you've got plenty of information on this one by now. Care to tell us?'

Okuni tossed her head and gave a supposedly radiant smile. 'Why, certainly, Kyo-san. Who do you think I am? The country's, no, the world's best informer. All the best for the Gang of the City Samurai, is it not, Kyo-san?' She batted her eyes at him.

'Just get on with it, Okuni.'

'…Very well. I guess that since Yuya-san is out of the way now, this'll be the perfect timing. But please, Kyo-san get that box out of sight.'

'…Is it bad news?'

'Depends on how you may take it. Under the sofa, _now_.'

Kyo gave an irritable sigh as he got up, apparently as bad tempered as Sasuke. From his stooped position when he looked under the sofa, he gave Yukimura a frown. Tapping him on his shoulder, he silently handed the man with the questioning smile a thin package from beneath the sofa.

'Oops!' Yukimura laughed, reaching back to take it. 'My bad, I forgot.'

Sasuke stared at him exasperatedly. 'First my game, now this. What would have happened if Nee-chan found it?'

'Well, at least we can use it for this meeting. Right, that thing safely under there? Good, let's get this over with quickly, I need to go for that article on the Orochikiba gang soon…'

Benitora turned the volume of the television down, and they all huddled around the wooden table under the light of the overhead lamp. Sasuke, for the first time, seemed to be giving his full attention, and even the faces of Yukimura and Benitora looked serious, while Kyo's looks like the King of Hell himself. Okuni started her talk.

*****

A few days afterwards, Yuya came back again, happy in her new life, but guilty that she had not visited for a while. So she was surprised when Yukimura and Sasuke, who always seemed to be there if they had nothing else better to do, handed her Kyo's "present".

We haven't seen it ourselves, knowing Kyo-san,' Yukimura said meaningfully. 'Although we have the general idea. But it's yours, now, so you should be the first one to touch it.'

Bemused, Yuya sat at the table and opened the box gingerly. In it, she found a three-barelled, sturdy looking gun. She stared at it in wonder before finally daring herself to hold it.

The other two examined it from over her shoulders.

'Well, at least it's not something Kyo-san will go to length at to poison- don't drop it, Yuya-san!'

'He wasn't kidding when he said he got it cheap. The thing's ancient! Does that shape mean it can only shoot three bullets before reloading?'

Yuya inspected it, turning it in her hands. 'It seems authentic, though,' she commented, with a hint of grudging in her voice (probably because it _was _from Kyo). 'How could it have not been expensive?'

'Because the shop he got it from most likely would have sold guns as weapons, not museum items to ogle at,' Sasuke said, turning away with his arms behind his head, having lost interest already. 'They wouldn't care if it was an antique or not, they only wants to know it's capability in a fight. Which means,' He glanced back, sounding bored. 'That thing wouldn't do you much to help you survive.'

Yuya frowned at it for that, but had to stifle a laugh when she imagined Kyo going shopping like a…well, like a normal person, even if he was entering an illegal weaponry shop. Still grinning, she raised her head, and spotted something in the box she had overlooked before.

'Hang on, there was a note underneath the gun…'

'Oh?' Yukimura came over again to read it.

_Hey, bitch-_

_I went through all that trouble to get this piece of garbage for you, so use it for whatever you like, but only if it's going to help us in someway. Otherwise, keep it close to your skimpy body and out of sight. That means your body, too. You should be grateful, so prepare yourself to work hard for the gang as our dog. As your first duty, I want that filthy pigsty of a bridge, fit to be called your home, to be cleaned by next week. If you try backing out of it now, I'll personally beat the shit out of you and haul you back to the dump you were born in._

_By the way, the thing's loaded already. I put the note underneath in hopes you'll splatter your own brains out without me having to do it myself. If you are reading this, then it's a major disappointment to the world._

Yukimura had finished it earlier than her, and was already scooting back to the other side of the room. Yuya's face was an interesting shade of purple, and her slacking mouth began to form words of unrepeatable quality.

'WHAT THE *%#$*-'

Yukimura had gotten his hands over Sasuke's ears just in time. Resisting the struggles as the younger boy fought with all his might, he steered him towards and out of the door, leaving behind the stream of phrases running amok in the living room behind him.

And so began another day as a member of the Gang of the City Samurai.

* * *

Yaaaay! That was Chapter Four, folks! I thought I'll do some justice to Benitora on this one, seeing as I felt that I was being a _little _bit mean on him for the last chapter, and earlier on this one. Besides, I was ready to get rid of Mekira to work on bigger, better things.

…I have no idea what those things are.

Actually I have no idea what to do for the next chapter either, having killed off Mekira and all. Another reason why I haven't revealed what's in Yukimura's packet, as well as Okuni's "information"- as the author doesn't know herself. I guess Yuya gets on with her cleaning. I should make that one a small tribute to Okuni, then.

I didn't quite intend to make this chapter as bloody as it turned out to be. I just don't have the guts. I don't swear much, either, but my environment helps writing Kyo's speeches down a lot more easier (You can guess what sort of environment it may be). I suppose the first part of this chapter made it look as though it was going to be a boring, Yuya's day thing, so I apologise if I shocked some people. This one was much longer than the other chapters, wasn't it? I guess they just keep on growing. I'm going to try cutting the next one off short, since I won't have much time in writing all these from now on. I have to go to a sort of summer study thing, visiting another school during the holidays, and then I'll be going overseas. That'll take me a month and a half or so, and then I'll be back in school. Right, paper draft. I must buy a notebook.

Aya is my first OC! I didn't really intend to have one in this story, but I couldn't find a character from SDK with the right personality. I considered Santera, but I've already chosen her to be the good friend of Antera at school. Did I get her and Bikara right?

Speaking of Bikara reminded me of the usual vocabulary thing. Not that you really need to know.

_Randoseru_ (ランドセル) You know Japanese primary kids have those sort of square shaped stiff bags at school? That's what it's called. Usually they're chosen by colours to genders- red for girls and black for boys, although there can be exceptions, such as a girl having a black one or vice versa, maybe because their parents had bad eyesight (unable to identify one colour from another, or unable to identify one gender from another) or maybe because they had elder siblings of a different gender who graduated primary school already, and had passed their _randoseru _down to them. There are also other colours, the bright ones like pink, orange, etc for girls and darker ones like green, blue, etc for boys. You could also have cute little characters engraved or imprinted on them too, like Hello Kitty or Ultraman. …I don't want to speak about it anymore, for some reason. (I had never been the girly type)

_Urayama _(裏山) Literally means "The mountain behind". Japan's a pretty mountainous country, what with earthquakes and volcanoes and all, so it's not unusual to have your school situated on one, unless you live in the heart of a city (which is boring, as I have learnt here in Hong Kong. There's just no _space_, and the air stinks). Therefore there's almost always an extra door at the back of the playground leading to it. I used to love playing there, and the stream- although I never went there alone, dragging my poor little sister in a trail behind me.

_Mama-san_ (ママさん) In a gay bar, a hostess/ host club (I think, maybe- never being in any before, being the good girl I am) there's the person who manages most of the stuff that's going around, so you could call it the leader of the place- that's a Mama-san. They probably got the cushy job from being the actual starter of the club, or had been chosen by the previous Mama-san, or had been one of the most popular in the place. So Bikara…'nuff said.

_Shiseiten Maruetsu _(四星天　マルエツ) Oh, I don't know. Just that the closest supermarket near my former home in Japan was called Maruetsu, so I decided to use that. Shiseiten, well, you pretty much know where that came from. I like Akira when he was a kid, he's so cute (I have no idea myself, I just seem to be drawn towards boys in short shorts…ugh) but I've only gone up to the place Bontenmaru and Hotaru meet in the manga, so I don't know much about them, and I haven't even _glimpsed _Akari yet, so I have no idea what her/his personality is. Can somebody please tell me?

Preferably on a review. Haven't I begged enough for them? Thank you to the new ones, as well as .v again, and I hope you guys continue reading this fanfic.

…I haven't slept for five days…and why are my Author's Notes so loooooong???

R&R. PLEASE.


	5. Enter the Informer, and Izakaya memories

Can you guys PLEASE read my author notes??? I know for sure that a small number of you do, and I'm very thankful (especially if you replied to my questions and stuff...) but I get the feeling people are always skimming through the boring parts and onto the story. I'm grateful to that, as well, but then again, I should just be happy that people reads this stuf...*weeps in joy, kind of.*

Chapter five, and I have no idea what I'm writing! No, seriously- absolutely utterly indefinitely no idea. So it could be a boring chapter, or a totally wacky one (or both), I don't know myself. This must be what they call writer's block.

So to start off, how about some math?

Orochikiba gang=

Chapter 1= 3 unnamed men + Mekira= 4

Chapter 2 = 6 men + Mekira (+ people who went to Yuya's apartment, but let's not count them for now)= 7

Chapter 3 = 0

Chapter 4 = 2 + 9 = 11. Equals the whole of the dead Orochikiba gang. Well, that was a waste of time. I could have just counted the people on Ch 4 rather than work all these out.

So, Orochikiba gang – 11 = 0

Here're some multiplications!

BenitoraxYuya= Laughs.

YukimuraxSasuke= Me rolling around on the floor, screaming.

KyoxYuya= ? I haven't exactly read this type of stuff, but I guess it'll be cool.

…BenitoraxOkuni= UH!!! Well, that's one paring to think about.

Me x money x sweets x reviews= A very happy me.

Right, math. Not my strong point.

Disclaimer + me = *Holds up a sign with a very grumpy face that says "I don't own Samurai Deeper Kyo, because if I did it'll have crashed and is still burning by now". The sign says that, not my face.*

If you were a smart person and ignored this whole thing (and even if you weren't and decided to pass your eyes through this, then thank you and) please read on!

_Added sometime afterwards _(Yaoi alert??? I don't really think it as much as that, it's more actually of a father-son thing with You Know and Who. So, actually, ignore this alert, since it's not really one…and, yeah, please continue.)

* * *

A tug on the string of the apron behind her back; the ends of a handkerchief resting on her head were tightened with the same slender fingers. Next, they move to a lone broomstick propped up in the corner, yanking it away from the spider innocently spinning a web between it and the wall. The sandaled feet kicked at the filth of the empty room, stomping a firm stance as she held her weapon of choice in front of her. Eyes gleaming with determination, the teddy bear face on her chest grinned fiercely at their opponent too.

And Shiina Yuya faces the cloud of dust hovering before her with absolute resolute.

'That DAMN Kyo!!!'

Well, she was about to, anyway. She tramped down the corridor from the storage room to the door next to it, the Dreaded Bathroom. Yet she was unyielding of this horror, as her mind was full of the complaints for the I'm-on-top-of-the-world aura possessing young man.

'Who does he think he _is_? Condemning me to a job like this! He's lived here longer than me, why can't he move that lazy ass of his to do some cleaning??? Well, I'll tell him something when I see him next time, I expect to be paid some respect, now that I've got a gun of my own I'm gonna…'

Disregarding the fact that it was actually Kyo who had bought her the gun, not to mention he had chosen one that was exceptionally useless, she rambled on as she opened the washroom door. The cloud of dust charged at her, but she effortlessly beat it away with her broom and fearsome anger.

She _had _practiced with the old, three barreled gun a few times, with some help from Yukimura or Sasuke, who she could consider herself slightly closer to, so was now capable of reloading it and firing it in sequence by herself quite well. The two had been surprised at the speed of her learning- although she was still at an amateurish level, Yukimura had told her that she was getting it faster than he had expected.

'I only wish we could have gotten you a better gun,' he said, Yuya thought, a little enviously. 'You must have been a professional gunman in your past life!' Sasuke nodded in silent agreement behind him. 'It took Sasuke weeks to stop firing his at me on accident!' A bullet whistled past his ear. 'You see? Funnily enough, he never actually broke out of it, and it always seems to happen when I'm talking about him in someway…' An entire round hit the wall opposite to them in quick succession.

Yuya stood in the middle of the bathroom, eyes closed, hands on the end of the broom she had planted right before her feet. Concentrating hand, trying not to breathe in the uncountable number of dust bunnies rolling at her feet, she suddenly opened her eyes wide, sensing an opening in the swirl of dust in the room.

_(I see it…!)_

'UUWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!'

With a roar like a beast in the midst of an exciting chase for it's prey, she leapt forward, and started sweeping as though she had never swept before in her life.

*****

Okuni stuck the key into the lock of the bridge house, checking around fervently for any watchers as she stepped in. Sighing from exhaustion, she climbed the stairs leading to the second floor, in search of some clear water to run down her throat. It was then when she heard the strange muffled noise sounding around the place.

'…..oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…..'

Leaning over the banisters, she checked that it wasn't coming from below, and shrugging, she walked around the landing in hopes of tracing the source of the weird noise. She caught it when she got closer to the bathroom door.

'_…..oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…..'_

She shuddered, imagining what sort of horrible creature may be in pain in their bathroom. Yukimura had a tendency to fetch stray cats or dogs from the streets in high hopes of keeping them as a pet, before being driven off by Sasuke. But still, even _Yukimura_ wouldn't have the nerve to steal an animal from a safari zoo or some secret science labs, if not in fear of being eaten alive by them, then from acquiring one sort of ban or another (i.e No going out at night with women for two weeks, no sake for a week, and worst of all, no talking from Sasuke for a whole _day. _Talk about serious silent treatment.) from his cat eyed, bad tempered charge. Preparing herself for the worst of whatever may be lurking in their toilet, she opened the door a tiny crack to peek in.

'……_oooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!**'_

She caught a handful of dust in her eye as Yuya made an extra strong whirlwind rise up with her broom, her back to the door. Okuni immediately drew back, forced the door back shut again, clutching at her eye and swearing softly. She had forgotten- it was the day Yuya was finally starting on the bathroom.

Staggering up to the kitchen, she rinsed her eye with water from the tap there, as well as getting her well deserved drink. She sighed, seating herself at the table, and decided to wait a full ten minutes before the next time she was going to get up to see if the hurricane had settled by then.

They had all been astounded the first time they glimpsed their dust filled, grimy bridge house after being touched for the first time by Yuya's magic hand. The place had actually _sparkled_, and every inch of it smelt like disinfectant for days after they had been scrubbed. The girl had criticized, protested and grumbled more than Sasuke could in a month, every time, right before entering her cleaning mode, but after a while they began to suspect that it was secretly her way of getting into the best mood for getting the job done. Before long, they had christened it 'Yuya-san's prayer to the cleaning Gods'.

Even Kyo had nothing to say for once when he surveyed the new and improved living room (and the small portion of that area which was the kitchen). That was after he had gotten over the shock of entering the once dark, gloomy zone of the first landing, as it was practically shining as the slightest of lights bounced off the clear walls. Luckily, Yuya was nowhere to be seen when he visited, having dutifully been at her new job in the central part of this side of the town.

'Well, Kyo-san?' Yukimura sidled up behind him as he stepped into the living room, which was much brighter with it's light than the doorway downstairs. Kyo was fighting hard against the temptation to rub his eyes, as well as trying not to let that show on his face. 'She's outdone herself this time, hasn't she? Think we'll be keeping her?'

Kyo gave a scoff. 'Just because she makes a good janitor doesn't mean that she's as good as a gangster. We don't need any new blood here in the first place, and if we did, then I'd still rather it was much more of a prettier face than that warthog's.'

'She's getting very good at her shooting lessons,' Yukimura continued, resting an arm on Kyo's shoulder. 'And that's saying something, considering that type of gun you gave her, isn't it? Didn't even have a brand, or the manufacturer's logo on it. Still,' he gave a relaxed, shrewd smile. 'I'm not entirely vouching for her to join yet, either. But she _will_ make a good bride.' He eyed Kyo carefully.

Kyo shrugged the arm off of him. 'Never thought that you liked the whiny type, Yukimura.'

'She's doesn't whine,' Yukimura sighed, prancing away. 'Although I still haven't tasted her food, and I haven't got my permission from Sasuke, I still think it may be a pretty nice choice, don't you?'

'What permission haven't you got for me, and a pretty nice choice don't I think is _what_, Yukimura?' Sasuke asked, having entered just then, blinking a little in the glittering room.

'Your dad's thinking of marrying that new cleaner we got,' Kyo answered for him, turning around and walking straight back out.

'Yukimura!'

'Waaah, there was no need for that, Kyo-san~!'

Okuni chuckled to herself at that, thinking that Yukimura certainly deserved the No night outings for four weeks ban that Sasuke had laid down. They had not seen Kyo for a week after that, during which Yuya had blew her storm from room to room, eventually coming out of the storage room, bruised, scratched and incredibly irritated from tumbling around in there with a single flashlight. It had taken her another day to recover from her injuries, and now she was starting again, this time on the worst affected room of the place.

Having noticed that the strange howling had died down for a while now, Okuni got up from her seat and walked out of the room, cautiously approaching the still shut door on the far side of the corridor. She leant against it and knocked tentatively.

'Yuya-san…?'

She leapt back as the door swung open without a warning, and crashed to the side while avoiding a speeding dustpan full of little moving things (she couldn't be sure, though) thrust out in front of the mad eyed girl holding it. She watched, open mouthed, as Yuya charged down the stairs and towards the entrance door, wrenching it open, dumped the contents of the large dustpan outside, and rushing back up again, not once sparing the flabbergasted Okuni a glance. She swept in, door closing for a minute or so, before racing back out again, down the stairs, door opening and closing for a durance of a fraction of a second, coming back up and into the room. The sequence repeated itself for five times, and on the last one, Yuya stopped at Okuni's feet, heaving while supporting herself with a hand on the banisters. 'He-hello, Okuni-san…'

'Yuya-san…are you alright?' Okuni asked, slightly concerned, as Yuya took in a big breath and coughed.

'Ye-yes, just out of breath…Phew, I really got myself going there.' Yuya smiled, straightening slowly, still coughing. 'At this rate, though, I'll have most of the bathroom done by today! Here, have a look…'

She nudged the door open with her big toe. Okuni, almost afraid to do so, popped her head through the gap and looked around, before closing her eyes to the unbelievable cleanliness. The bathroom was a place everyone would avoid without good reason, such as to relieve themselves, but even that atmosphere had changed completely from Yuya's absolute frenzy. The plastic fillings in between the tiles were still dirty, but the tiles themselves were deprived of the blackness, as were the walls and even the ceiling. There was still a bit of green things stuck on the base of the toilet, but the hairballs were absent from the drain in the shower, and the mirror, though not yet utterly cleaned of it's dust, reflected off more light and seemed to be fewer in cracks. Okuni never ceased to be amazed at the sudden change Yuya had brought forward in such a short time.

The other woman herself placed the empty dustpan in the corner and wiped her forehead with her sleeve. 'Right, so now I've gotten rid of the dust that pretty much made up the floor of this place, so now I've just got to apply the disinfectant and Mrs Lolly's Wash It UP! onto the remaining bits here…stand back, Okuni-san…'

'Yuya-san,' Okuni started, as Yuya reached over to take a bucket from the side and began to fill it up with water. 'You do realize that there was a vacuum cleaner in the storage room…?'

'What? Oh, yes,' Yuya continued with her activities, pouring in half a bottle of the soap into the now full bucket. 'I tried to use it on here this morning, too, but then something broke and it spurted out the stuff inside of it, not the other way around.' _(Which explains the giant dust cloud and the little moving "things"…) _'It set me back for a bit, but don't worry, I'm back on track again!'

'Hmm…well, in that case, you won't mind if I stay here for a few minutes while you work, would you? Yuya-san,' Okuni smiled at her.

Yuya looked back at her from her own crouching position next to the bucket with soapy water. Puzzlement was etched in her face, but she shrugged. 'Sure, I don't see a problem with that.'

If Yuya had known her better then she would have recognized Okuni's expression as the one she wears when she's "hunting information".

'Thank you,' Okuni propped herself on the rim of the shower place, where it seemed preferably cleaner than the other parts of the room just yet. She started her interrogation sweetly. 'So, Yuya-san…I can't help but notice that your housework in this case is surprisingly good. Care to tell me how you came across such talents?'

Yuya gave a short laugh, dunking her rag into the water. 'I don't know about "came across", but I think it's from the time when I used to live with my brother. Our parents died in an accident, you see, so he took me in. He worked as a night sentry, but I learnt a few things from him to take care of myself while he was away.'

'Ah,' Okuni noted it down in her head. 'And where is your handsome brother now, if I may ask?'

Yuya's scrubbing hand stilled. 'Gone,' she replied softly, and continued her work in solemn silence.

Okuni realized that she had just stepped into a tar pit. 'I'm sorry,' she mumbled.

_(But Yuya-san's attitude…she talked about her parent's death much more calmly, but her brother's…? Is it because his death has etched into her mind more deeply, because he died later, or because…?)_

'Yuya-san,' Okuni tried to keep her curiosity tame to wheedle more information out of the suddenly quiet girl. 'Can you tell me how exactly your brother died…?'

There was a pause. '…Murdered,' was the next short reply. Yuya did not turn.

'Does this have to do with you coming all the way here?' Okuni pressed on. 'It has a reputation for being a dangerous neighbourhood, you know. Is it because of financial problems, or did you-'

'Okuni-san, is it okay if we don't talk about this much?' Yuya had finally turned on her heels to face Okuni, and she saw from her expression that she had crossed the line. 'I'm sorry, Yuya-san,' she murmured gently. 'If you don't want me to say anything about it to everyone else, then I'll be happy to oblige.'

'Thank you. Please- please promise, won't you? Okuni-san,' Yuya looked down in shame. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you…'

Okuni waved it aside. 'Oh, don't worry. I promise. And it was completely my fault for pressing on to it too much. Say,' she tried to veer away from the subject. 'Tora-san is in an unusually high mood these days, isn't he?'

Yuya blinked. 'Benitora?'

'Yes. Especially when he's with you. Was there anything that happened some time before, that you aren't telling us?'

Yuya thought. 'Well, there was that thing with Mekira's gang…'

'Anything else-'

'_Nothing _else.' This time, she didn't apologise for snapping.

It had turned out that Yuya knew nothing about Benitora killing all the people that had harassed her. Either it was not mentioned at work, or she wasn't listening. What everyone else thought, to Benitora's disappointment, was that it was no big news anyway. The sort of thing wasn't totally uncommon in the area. So they had settled for assuring a worried Yuya that the now extinct Orochikiba gang will not go after her again, as Benitora, surprisingly, had given them the scare of their lives that had chased them out of town. When she didn't buy it easily, Yukimura put in that some involvement about Kyo, without him actually being there, had helped. Although she _still _didn't buy that, she had no choice but to accept it as the others were shoving the option at her so strongly.

'Alright, alright…' Okuni held up her hands in front of her to show she meant peace. 'If you say so.'

'I _do _say so. What's with him, anyway? Always smiling around like a fool, acting stupid…was he really dropped on the head as an infant?'

'No, no he wasn't… in fact, he was well taken care of, till a certain time in his life when he decided for a change of events.'

'What?'

'Well, he lived in quite a different environment to the one he does now, you see…oh, never mind. This will lead to another promise Tora-san asked me to keep, so I can't say more.'

'Oh, come on, Okuni-san. This is Benitora we're talking about here.'

Okuni gave a light laugh. 'Yuya-san, I am a first class informer. However cruel and cheating my ways are to obtain the needed information, I am bound to my word if I give a vow, no matter who my client, or victim, is. Besides, you wouldn't like it if I broke our little promise in front of everyone, would you?'

Yuya sniffed, but turned back to her scrubbing without any further comments. Okuni let a small smile tug on her lip-sticked mouth.

'Don't let it bother you too much, Yuya-san. I'm sure he'll tell you some day himself.'

Yuya snorted, her face turned away from Okuni. 'Like as if I care. As it's Benitora, I bet it's nothing important anyway.'

Okuni collected her long black hair into her arms and let her head fall to the glass pane of the shower room behind her, her eyes closing peacefully.

_He stood in front of the great, mahogany carved door, hand resting on the brass knocker. Taking a deep breath, he lifted it from the burnished surface, and rapped hard on the door, once, twice. A voice from inside boomed out towards him in the wide corridors. 'Come in.'_

_As they creaked open, he let himself open one of his narrow, seemingly closed eyes, to behold the long walk to the large polished desk at the end of the room. On the way to there, however, he spotted a giant fish tank filled with huge, exotic fish, weaving around the dancing seaweed and corals, poking playfully at the numerous toys sunk to the bottom. On the other side of that, reflected in the glass, was an actual statue made of marble- a figure of a man stood proudly atop of the podium, head held high in a justice his eyes did not reveal. The golden plate below it had the words 'The strongest of hearts comes from success over others' engraved on it. _His _heart was sickened just by reading the words. All of a sudden, he wanted nothing more but to get out of the place. Yet he kept himself going, to reach the desk on the far side of the room, and the person behind it._

_The pictures hung on the wall beside the man at the desk were of his partners in business, famous public announcements he had made, those of his great achievements and those of his companies, the money they made and the weapons they sold. Not one was of his dear family or true friends- probably because he didn't have any._

_The man swiveled to face him on his big leather chair. His lined face looked fatigued, specks of white showing up in between strands of his long, black hair. 'Hidetada. What do you want from me?'_

_He gritted his teeth firmly before he spoke. 'Father, I have some news.'_

_A weary sigh. 'Go on. Hit me with your latest newsflash.'_

_He shook, but kept his tone level. 'I'm leaving home.'_

_'That's a good one. Now what's the real news?'_

_'How about, I think you're a fucking bastard that steals from innocent people to make your own money. I think your way of managing your companies like that is so effing wrong, and that the stuff you sell is utter crap. They hurt and kill people, and just adds to the violence and crimes we all know goes on around here. I think you're a piece of shit, a failure as a father to me, and I've always thought that way. That's my news, unless you aren't as dim as I thought you were and already knew that.'_

_A deafening silence filled the huge room. Father and son exchanged glares at each other, the great grandfather clock ticking away behind them. A coin could have fallen onto the ground, twenty stories below them, and they would've heard it, if not for the sound of their thumping hearts pounding in their ears. Finally, the man got up from his seat, and a loud crash echoed around the office. The school of fish turned simultaneously to swim the other way in their tank- the marble statue did not budge._

_Hidetada's head was bleeding- he had been slow in raising his arms to protect himself from the heavy, ornate lamp. Both men were breathing hard, and it was the father who spoke first._

_'Get out.'_

_Hidetada forced himself to stare into his eyes. 'I was just gonna,' and he turned his back on the desk. A folder hit him squarely on it and he stumbled forwards, the papers fluttering out as it made impact with him and the floor._

_'Get out! I have no more need of you if you are to speak like that to me, your own father! I gave you a home, a life- you should be grateful!'_

_He did not turn back. 'You are _not _my father- definitely not, as of now. No father will look at his own son that he raised with so much hate, and yet so much disregard. I defy everything you and the generations before you have taught me- I will throw away that home, and life, you have "given" me. I have no more want of them, either.'_

_A picture of a smiling woman in a frame, a can of pens, a book followed shortly through the air before his raging words. 'And them what will you do? Live in the streets, covered by a sheet of newspaper or two? You are a disgrace to our family- you have no idea how the world you were protected against is! Come back here and explain yourself!'_

_He turned only then, in front of the open doors. 'You want me to explain myself!?' he yelled, his voice cracking in the air conditioned breeze. 'Fine! It's your fault so many people I know are suffering right now. It's your fault so many of my friends have turned against each other, fighting for scraps of food, money, respect! It's your doing, your weapons that have shed so much blood on the streets down there- and you don't care at all, do you? You are the one with no idea of the world outside, for you rob, and you kill, and you don't change a single expression on your bastard face. You have the power to change things from what they are now- and you just sit on your fat ass right there, talking on the phone about how much you're going to sell your new model for! "Success over others"? I don't give a shit!' In his rage, he pulled out the short rod from his back, and in a second, had drawn it to it's full length, and had speared the arrogant, white statue into little crumbling bits. There were no cries of horror from the other man. _

_'And one more thing,' he snarled, pocketing the shortened rod lance again. 'My name is Benitora, not Hidetada- because that's the only thing I ever really got from you.'_

_And he walked out of the wide, opening doors, leaving his father staring at his back. It was only after he had passed through the arched turns in the corridors, did he finally let his tears fall. They mingled with the red, dark substance trickling down from the side of his head. The warm, summer air blew in from a nearby open window, and he spent a few seconds just gazing put at the smoggy city below._

Okuni watched as Yuya rubbed her wet rag vigorously between the tiles on the bathroom floor. 'Doesn't it get tiring, having to do one at a time?' she asked, bored.

''Huh? Oh, I get kind of involved too much with it, so no, not really,' she laughed, sounding a bit embarrassed. 'Although, my arms are getting a bit tired,' she added, turning on her knees to Okuni. 'Hey, wanna help? There's a spare one over there-'

'Noo, thank you,' Okuni said, leisurely. 'Kyo-san assigned _you _to the job, not me. It wouldn't be fair for my poor delicate hands, now, would it?' She smiled at Yuya's disgruntled face. 'No, of course it wouldn't. Or are you upset because I mentioned Kyo-san?'

'Both,' Yuya answered truthfully, but moodily. 'You won't be able to survive in a normal house if you can't do stuff like this, Okuni-san. And what's with that Kyo guy? What have I done that made him hold a grudge on me so much?'

'Well, making him eat day old fruit was one,' Okuni held up her hand to interrupt Yuya's 'I didn't-' 'And as for "surviving in a normal house", I can always make the man do it, can't I?'

'……You're amazing in that way, Okuni-san,' Yuya sighed.

'I know. But enough about me- how much about Kyo-san do you know, Yuya-san?'

'What do you mean, "How much"?' Yuya frowned.

'Well, for instance, did you know he was nicknamed "Demon eyes" by the other gangsters here? Even most of the civilians do, too.'

'Ah… so it's like-

Kigan = Demon eyes

Right?' Yuya asked, a though bubble appearing comically in thin air, showing the equation above like this.

'…Well, that's the easier way to interpret it. But didn't you notice his eyes? They're red.'

'Aren't those contact lenses?'

'Contact…!!! …No, they aren't. They're really red.'

'Like when a camera flashes and then-'

'That's when the camera light reflects off your red blood cells behind your irises, showing them up red onto the photo. His eyes are permanently red, even in normal light.'

'Does he have an eye infection or something?'

'NO, he does not. I admit he's wonderful, but why are you so interested in him all of a sudden?'

Yuya stammered a bit before calming down enough to form comprehensible words. 'I am NOT interested in him! I just want to dig some dirt up on him, that's all. Why are you looking at me like that?'

Okuni was eyeing her suspiciously. 'Oh, nothing,' she sighed, looking at a particularly interesting patch on the wall. 'I just thought that if you had suddenly developed feelings for him, then you would have ended up as my rival. Yuya-san, do you love him?' She shot quickly at the outraged Yuya.

'I. HATE. Him.' Each of the separated words carried more venom than the last.

Okuni gave her a smile. 'Fabulous. I think we're one step closer to becoming friends now.'

Yuya tread around the area cautiously. 'What, you like him?' Okuni rolled her eyes at the other girl.

'Wasn't it obvious?'

Yuya approached it even more carefully. 'What part of him do you like so much?'

Okuni's eyes seemed to sparkle as much as the living room now. 'Why, his cold and uncaring personality, for a first! He's so scary, and cool, it gives me shivers thinking about what he could do- for me, and to me! Apart from his character, he simply has a GORGEOUS body- so strong and muscular! Have you ever seen him with his shirt off? Well, even if you haven't, then you can tell he is so much more than ordinary man rolling around down there-' 'Okuni-san, what kind of horrid person are you…' 'That aura of his! It gives you such a thrill, and it radiates from his whole being! He has the most handsome NOSE (??) ever, but it's his eyes, don't you think, that gives you that excitement, so cold and piercing, as though he would kill you with his love in a split second-'

'Ookay, if that's all you have to say, I'm going back to work now,' Yuya was wishing that she had brought earplugs.

'Well, if that's all you want it to be like…Do you want to hear about me and Kyo meeting for the first time? I can tell you we had such a rough and violent night together, just the two of us…'

'First, no, because I have a feeling I won't be able to tell truth from lies. Second, no, because I think that I'll be mentally scarred for life if I have to listen to it. Third, NO, because I- hate- that- frigging- _bastard_!!!' She accidentally tore her rag into two, and blinked. 'Whoops.'

'You have a spare one over there,' Okuni pointed at it, hanging on the rim of the bucket.

'Nah, I'll go get another one from the kitchen. I still haven't given up on getting you to help me scrub this place down. I'll be back in a second!' She closed the door, her enraged face becoming a shadow against her smiling one in a moment.

'Get me a cold drink!' Okuni called, alone in the bathroom. There was no reply of acknowledgement from behind the door. She turned her head to stare at the remaining rag.

'………..'

She coughed.

'Hey there.'

_The passageway was narrow, dark and sick smelling. She covered her nose with her long sleeve, shivering against the autumn breeze. Still following the yells of pain sounding before her, she hurried onwards in the night._

_A corner, and another- uh oh, a wrong turning. Doubling back, a horrible scream rose into the dark sky, the clouds hanging so heavily it was in any moment now that the rain will pour down on her. She quickened her steps as another shriek reached her anxious, searching ears._

_At last, the final turn, and the mass of dark figures came to her eye. The fight was almost over, only one man left standing- kneeling, more like, in front of the towering, victorious killer of a thousand souls._

_'N-no, please- please, have mercy…'_

_The standing man looked cruelly at the insect at his feet, lips curling in disgust as he slobbered on the floor._

_'I have a wife, and- and small children. They'll be waiting for my return, at home- here-'_

_'He thrust forward something from his pocket, and held it up in his trembling, fearing arms._

_'My money! Everything I have right now… You can have it! Just-just not my life, please…don't kill me…'_

_The glare downwards did not waver, and the raising arm holding the knife did not falter._

_'Scum,' the voice hissed. 'What would I do with trash like that? Your life has no value, your lies means nothing to me…no one will be sad if you were gone from this world, trust me.'_

_The arm fell, and the knife drove deep into the man's shoulder. The scream of agony sounded all around the walled streets, beating against the rain that had just began to fall._

_'Ah…you're…'_

_The last of the man's voice rose up to them, from between the bodies of his friends._

_'The…City Samurai…' A last sigh, and he spoke no more._

_The man above him still wore the disgusted look. 'Stupid worthless bug,' he shot at no one in particular. 'What an idiotic name they had to come up with. Look at me, do I look like some law abiding samurai to you? No frigging way. I'm a-'_

_'A Demon,' Okuni finally spoke up. The man spun around to her, knife pointing in her direction. 'Isn't that right, Kyo-san? A beautiful, killing demon.'_

_'Who are you?'_

_'Don't say that you don't remember me! I'm pained,' Okuni said, approaching him through the falling rain, wading past the bodies below. She smiled at him in the dark, and took a low bow. 'Ikumo Okuni, at your service.'_

_'Okuni…ah,' Kyo frowned. 'Yes, I remember you. The informer who threatened to sell out my deepest secret. Well, have you found it yet?'_

_Okuni pursed her lips. 'Not yet, but soon, I will find it. Because I have already found you,' she looked up and gave a graceful smile. 'That has to have some sort of meaning, don't you think?'_

_Kyo stared at her, and snorted, sweeping back round. 'I don't get anything you're talking about.'_

_'Oh, Kyo-san,' Okuni purred, coming closer. 'I think I can make you understand. I've hunted so long and hard for you- being together with you for ever now is my only goal in life. I will follow your handsome, manly back wherever you may go-' She stopped, and looked down at her chest. His knife was resting just above it._

_'Don't follow me,' he snarled. 'I don't want to see your face again. Run home to some other man that won't kill you if you come any closer.'_

_Okuni pouted. 'Such a mean person, Kyo-san. But,' Her lips danced a small smile onto themselves. 'That's what I love about yo-'_

_She leapt back as a sudden swish of the knife almost caught her neck. Eyeing it with sudden alert, her smile turned to one of a bittersweet wanting. 'Don't you want me around, Kyo-san? To support you, and help you, and be your companion, just for a while?'_

_Kyo glared at her. 'I don't need, or want, anyone around me,' he growled. 'Especially not an annoying, prying old woman like you.'_

_'Ah~, Kyo-san,' Okuni sighed, matching his footsteps as he walked onwards. 'You're always like this, pushing me away when you really-' Her eyes widened as they landed on his body. 'Kyo-san, you're injured!'_

_He glanced at the wounds on his arm dismissively. 'It's just a scratch,' and threw it off with that._

_'It looks nothing like a scratch. Oh, Kyo-san, you were careless today, weren't you? Here, even if you say that it's no big deal, people will stare as you walk among them. That way leads to a main street, Kyo-san, there're too many people for you to handle. Come with me, this way,' she reached out and grabbed his other arm, relieved that he didn't throw her back, let alone attack her. 'I'll show you a good shelter, an old building that's scheduled for demolishment soon. There'll still be enough time for you to heal.'_

_He let her lead the way. 'This doesn't mean that I'm going to let you be by my side.'_

_'Of course not, Kyo-san,' Okuni smiled. But if you have a choice or not, she thought, is not for you to decide on this point. A woman's grip can be very strong- even if you kill her she will not let go…_

_The rain pitter pattered against the cobbled streets of the paths winding around the cities. The two figures walked away from the fallen bodies in the enclosed, shadowed street._

Okuni blinked out of her daze as Yuya opened the door again.

'Here we go!' She smiled, and raised her hand holding a cleaner, less hole-filled rag. 'I thought that using this at first will be a bit of a waste, but it's going to get dirty anyway so-? Okuni-san?'

She had reached out to grab the rag from Yuya's hand. 'Give me it,' she said, tiredly getting up from her seat. 'If I'm going to help you without an order from Kyo-san, then I should get the easiest way to do it, shouldn't I?'

Yuya blinked, and cracked a grin. 'What, worried about your housekeeping life for later on?' she teased.

Okuni snorted. 'Of course not. I just thought that as Kyo-san, when I marry him, will not be so lenient on me for telling him to do the chores, and I cannot trust just any housekeeper who may stab you in the back and steal all your jewels…so I might as well get used to it. Besides, I was getting bored.' She knelt down to dunk her washing tool into the soapy water, flinching as it touched her varnished nails.

Yuya rolled her eyes. 'You are so unsubmissive. Well, alright then, if that's what you want.'

Okuni beamed brightly at her. 'So, Yuya-san, how _do _I do this?' Yuya suppressed a groan.

After a few minutes of repeating the simple explanation of rubbing at the plastic fillings on the floor to relieve it of the grime three times, the two finally got back to work, Yuya going over the instructions in a rising voice as more crisis ensued.

Okuni sat back on her heels, giggling as Yuya, huffing, tried to right the watery mess she had made of the floor.

'Sorry, Yuya-san.'

'Really!' Yuya snarled, shaking drips of water off her hand. 'I never thought I will have so much trouble with you…'

'I just thought we'll finish faster if-'

'Dancing around while letting the water slop out _isn't _going to help much, Okuni-san,' Yuya sighed. 'If it was Yukimura-san helping me, it will have been much easier…He could have even gotten Sasuke-kun to help, as well.'

Okuni made a face. 'I doubt it. Yukimura leaves most of his housework to old friends who pop in once in a while. He owns two houses around here, would you believe it? He cooks a bit, yes, but if it wasn't for keeping Sasuke alive and healthy then he would think it as so bothersome that he could be living of cup noodles everyday by now.'

'Oh, really?' Yuya frowned. So even this gangster was on the verge of irresponsibility. 'I've kinda lost face for him for that one, then. Say, Okuni-san,' Yuya turned to her now partner in crime. 'Sasuke-kun is in primary school, what with a _randoseru _and all. Isn't he too young to be in a gang?'

Okuni laughed softly at she thought of what the little boy would have said to this. 'Don't let him hear you say that. Even you should have noticed that he absolutely hates being called a kid, or anything related to that statement. He tries hard to prove himself, though he doesn't let it show. In that way, I guess he's a bit like Kyo-san.'

She sighed, thinking deeper into the pair in question. 'Yukimura-san used to be a leader of another gang, you see, and after he adopted Sasuke, he joined too. He was, of course, the youngest- but even though I haven't heard much of this part of their history, it seemed as though their friends were very compassionate about each other, especially their head, Yukimura-san. Their wish to protect him was so strong, that eventually it affected Sasuke as well. But, after a particularly violent gang fight which ensued between them and a long standing rival group, many of them were injured, and Yukimura-san noticed that this life was hurting them all unknowingly, drawing them away from a peaceful life they should be leading. He dispersed the group, making each of them promise that they won't do anything reckless or aggressive without his consent, although some of them stayed to work as underground fighters because they liked it anyway. They all kept in contact with him, and Sasuke.'

She set the rag down and rocked back on her heels, keeping well above the slippery, soapy water. 'Not long afterwards, he met us to create this gang, but he couldn't stop his kid from tagging along after- as well as the strong intuition to protect the one he had admired for so long, Sasuke has a strange lust for battle, almost the equivalent of that of Kyo-san. It was frightening at first, that someone so young could have wanted the blood and the rushing feeling so much- but he was a great choice, no doubt about it.'

Yuya felt a little let down.

_(Mean of me, to hope that even the person years younger could be lagging more than myself…but still, I would have liked to be better than _someone _here…)_

'But- but Sasuke-kun is adopted, right?' Yuya asked hurriedly to cover up her disappointment. 'Why? Did his parents die? How old was he when they-'

'His parents didn't die,' Okuni cut in softly. 'He had been abandoned. He was left on the cold streets to die as a baby, they didn't even leave a note or anything about his name, his birthday, anything… So the orphanage named him, and made his birthday as the day they found him. He was raised in many different children homes, but was never once taken in, shunted from one place to another. It was only when Yukimura-san came, did he finally find out a new way to live.'

_The whistling breeze beat against the thin sheets of walls outside, making the metal gate clang in front of the lawn. The building itself wasn't too bad off, but Yukimura could still feel the chilliness as he walked down the wooden hall behind the young lady, listening to the windows rattle and the children squeal, cry and yell in their play around his feet, in the small mess hall far before them, in their own rooms that were clustered up together. Their slippers padded alongside the bare walls, and he stooped suddenly to catch a small girl as she squawked and fell against his leg, having being pushed by the boys that went running past them just now._

_'Careful,' Yukimura spoke to her, setting her upright and brushing her down. 'Wouldn't want your pretty face to be hurt.'_

_The little girl beamed at him 'Thank you, onii-san!'_

_He chuckled as she went to follow her friends, and looked up at the woman before him. She had a small smile on her face. 'Not quite "oji-san" yet, are we?'_

_He laughed, straightening up. 'I'm still a university student, Mizuki-san,' he smiled at her. 'There's no reason for that, anyway.'_

_She joined in with his humor. 'True that. Besides, apart from your slightly adultish attitude, you look like the type who will look young for quite a while.'_

_He walked up to her, a sly look on his face. 'I have a baby face. But when you say "slightly adultish attitude", do you mean this-?' He made to wrap an arm around her middle, but she slapped it away._

_'No girls for you, Shinda-san,' she smirked, walking away. 'I was talking about your decision to adopt a child at such a young age yourself, and how mature you seem compared to those hooligans who get way over their tops and make trouble for other people, but it seems I spoke too soon.'_

_Yukimura gave a let down sigh. 'Aww, and there I was hoping that I had a chance on you again.'_

_'Not since middle school, idiot. Just count yourself lucky that you actually continued your education, and didn't have to drop out like me,' Her tone had stiffened._

_His eyes softened. 'Mizuki-san…'_

_She shook her head, and turned back to face him with her usual, cheerful smile. 'What's with that look? For your information, I like working with children, even though some of them has their difficulties. I can relate. And I'm glad you're here to take one as your child, because I know that you'll treat them well. So remember to do me that favour, alright? Because it won't be just the kid's hopes of being saved that will be crushed if you don't, it'll be mine, too.'_

_Yukimura nodded in understanding. 'I don't take matters like this lightly myself, Mizuki-san. You know that. Don't worry, I'll definitely choose someone to escape from here today.' He looked around, but couldn't see anything interesting enough to help him decide._

_'That's good to hear,' His companion said beside him. She continues with her introduction of the orphanage._

_'We have the government policy to take in as much as thirty five kids, perhaps a few more if there were special needs and if we could wrangle the rooms a bit. We have eight full time workers, and a dozen more part timers or volunteers to help out with some of the daily chores. The kids range from three to sixteen here, and we all let them attend the local schools, keeping most of them together if we could. The home itself has one dining hall, one kitchen, twelve bedrooms for the kids and overnight workers, three study rooms with a small library in one of them. We also have two playrooms and one exercise room, where the kids can try out various equipment such as mats, balancing beams, swinging ropes, bars and other gymnastic tools. They have to have an adult's supervision, though._

_'Do you want to go to the mess hall, to see if you can find anyone? Most of the kids will be there right now, for lunch.'_

_He shook his head. 'I don't think I'll be able to pick out one person just by staring at a horde of the same kids,' he smiled, and then pointed at the next room out in front of them. 'Is that a playroom? Is it alright if I see if anyone is in there who might want to talk to me?'_

_'Oh, they'll want to talk to you, alright,' She rolled her eyes, and opened the door. The kids sitting inside with their toys turned around to see their visitors, and their faces broke out into happy grins once they saw Mizuki._

_'Mizuki-nee-chan!' 'Nee-chan! Who's that?' 'Ooh, is he nee-chan's boyfriend??'_

_Mizuki lightly fisted the little kid on the head. 'Of course not, dumb-dumb. This is Shinda Yukimura-san, an old friend of mine from middle school. He's here to adopt one of the kids.'_

_Their eyes already had the "pick me" look before she had stopped talking. They gathered around him, some circling him from out of the crowd, unsure if he was friendly or not._

_'Onii-san, you look really young! How old are you?' 'Shinda-san, you were friends with Mizuki-nee-chan when she was small? Do you have any embarrassing stories about her?' 'Hey!'_

_A grinning, sniveling kid approached him, holding up a soft ball. 'Onii-chan, do you want to play some football here? It's a bit small, but it's fun!' Yukimura smiled and took the ball._

_'Taro, wipe your nose!' Mizuki scolded him from her crouching place with a few girls and their toys (a beheaded Barbie doll and parts of a mini tow away truck). 'If you have a cold, come see us!'_

_Taro fished into his pockets and drew out a dirty piece of tissue. His loud blowing caused everyone to laugh. Yukimura, however, had something catch his eye outside the window._

_'Excuse me, Mizuki, can I go out to the back yard?' he asked, turning swiftly towards her._

_Mizuki looked surprised. 'But it's freezing cold out there! You shouldn't be-' But she saw the look on his face and nodded, albeit a bit hesitantly. 'Well, alright then. I'll show you the way out there. But don't say I didn't warn you!' She rose, motioning for him to follow._

_He passed the ball back to Taro. 'Sorry, kid, I'll have to wait till I can play with you next time,' He smiled at the disappointed faces. 'Don't worry, I'm just going to take a look around, and then I'll come back inside. If Mizuki-san doesn't have anything planned for me after that, then we'll kick it around, right? I know some pretty mean moves!' he winked at the giggling children, and left the room with Mizuki._

_She led him down the corridor to a glass paned sliding door, which he hurriedly stepped past and into the garden sandals. Striding across the long garden in search of the figures he had glimpsed, he left Mizuki behind him in his rush._

_Finally, he spotted them- a small form up against the wall of the house, an angry, taller one facing him, crossed armed. The bigger man was eyeing him reproachfully._

_'I'll ask again- why were you doing that?'_

_The kid stayed silent, glaring back at him as the man sighed, and rubbed between his eyes._

_'Someone could've gotten hurt, it was a very dangerous thing to do. Not to mention, you were making a racket. It's disturbing for the people around you, our neighbours, the other children…So you have to tell me, why would you be throwing rocks at the garage shutter?'_

_The small child didn't say anything, nor did he look as though he was about to. Yukimura had gotten just close enough to be able to distinguish his features when the man's frustration got the better of him._

_'Answer me, Sasuke!'_

_'Because I wanted to!' Sasuke yelled back. 'I just wanted to throw something, alright? I wanted to break something! No one was hurt, so leave me alone!' As he tried to make a break for it, the man roughly grabbed his shoulders and tried to twist him around to face him. The boy's head cracked against the hard wall, and Yukimura saw him wince._

_'Hey, hey!' Yukimura stepped in, walking quickly. The man looked around to see who it was. 'What do you- ah, the visitor!'_

_He quickly let go of the boy and turned around to bow apologetically. The boy looked over his lowered shoulder for a better view of the newcomer. 'I'm terribly sorry, this is very bad timing…I was just meant to be talking to him, I didn't mean to-'_

_Yukimura wasn't listening to him- his eyes were fixed on the boy behind, as his were to him. The child looked no older than seven or eight- his peculiar features highlighted his curiosity in him. His snowy hair would have merged well with the white wall behind him, if it hadn't been so dirty. A pair of cat like, golden eyes stared at him, fixed to his own dark ones, the sharp black irises widening in the darkness of the shadow that fell over him. His smooth face was smudged, as were his hands, which were, Yukimura noticed in shock, cut and bleeding. Yet his look held no remorse, his gaze steady as he took the other man in._

_The bowing man was just about wrapping up his speech. '-so you see, this kind of thing doesn't happen normally…it's just that this kid, with his rocks- oi!' He started, as he saw the kid running for it in the corner of his eye. He started for him. 'That brat-'_

_'I don't think that we should keep him out here much longer,' Yukimura intervened. His smile was sour. 'It's rather cold here,' he continued, rubbing his long sleeved arms to indicate the temperature. 'And he didn't even have a jacket on. Further more, did you notice that he was bleeding?'_

_'Bleed-'_

_'It appears you hadn't. May I ask you to check his condition before shoving him up a wall for interrogation?'_

_'I didn't- I was just standing, it's our way of discipline-'_

_Yukimura sighed at his own harshness. The man didn't seem like an overly mean character- he had just been caught at the wrong time. He had just been dealing with a troublemaking kid, he reasoned with himself._

_'Well, I guess that being unaware of the situation before I came, I shouldn't say much myself,' he said, looking across the way the child had gone. 'But your "way of discipline"- does Mizuki-san do it too?'_

_'Yes, I do,' her voice said behind him. She walked to stand next to him. 'But only for serious punishment. What did he do this time?' she asked the shamefaced man standing before them._

_'Some of the kids playing here came and told me he was throwing rocks at the garage shutter door,' the man explained. 'He was still doing it when I came out. Just sitting on that fence there, chucking the stuff at it. Look at it! That dent- we won't be able to fix that one easily.'_

_Yukimura went to inspect it. It wasn't hugely spread out, nor was it little dents all over the place, but one, deep dent on the same spot. He raised his eyebrow in surprise._

_'That one is always causing some kind of trouble,' Mizuki sighed. 'I don't have favourites or anything like that, but ever since he came…' She frowned and sighed._

_'Still, you shouldn't have lost your temper like that,' she told the other man. 'No matter how he acts, he's still a little child. Get that in your head, will you?' She walked away, shaking her head._

_'Come on, Shinda-san,' she called back to him, still examining the shutter. 'It's freezing, we should get back in!'_

_Yukimura turned to her again, the easy smile back on his face. 'Coming, Mizuki-san!' He followed her back to the warm cosiness of the orphanage. The man left in the garden, sighing and grumbling to himself, tried to open up the shutter without having it jammed. He made a note to call the repairman when it came back down on his foot._

_After having gone round all the rooms, staying longer where there were more children to meet, Yukimura definitely felt more depleted of his energy. The mess hall had taken an hour, the kids all piling up for him, some even crying for him to take them home with him, while trying to throw off the carers who attempted to drag them off of him and back to their food._

_Since Mizuki had abandoned trailing him when a child was reported nosebleeding, he had assured her that he won't get lost and had wandered off on his own. The floorboards creaked under his feet as he walked around an unusually quiet hall, looking around this way and that for any sign of children playing all on their own in this silent part of the house. Suddenly, he heard a great crash, and a string of oaths streaming out loudly shortly after._

_He started around, looking for the source of the sound. Following the shockingly rapid swear words down the corridor, he stopped outside the doorway of one open room, just as the young voice of Sasuke stopped flowing as he got up off the ground, picking up the fallen rope ladder as he went. His back turned to the door, he clambered up onto the balancing beam, and after steadying himself up there for a few seconds, leapt up and performed some miraculous twists and turns before landing lightly._

_Yukimura broke into applause naturally on instinct, almost making the small boy tumble down again, this time in surprise. He faced the man with a defiant glare on the beam. 'What do you want?'_

_'I want to know where you learnt that,' Yukimura answered smoothing, coming into the gymnastics room with an encouraging smile. 'That was amazing!'_

_The little boy stared at him for a bit, before turning away, shaking his head in a tired manner. 'I practiced,' he mumbled, unexpectedly shy- or maybe just not talkative. 'While I was shoved around places, I liked to walk on tall, narrow places. I didn't care if I hurt myself or not, so long I could get up and do that stuff again. I-I taught myself, but don't get the wrong idea, like in those drama shows when some guy says some stuff about needing something to be sure of in his life. I just do it because I want to.'_

_'Like when you were throwing pebbles at the garage,' Yukimura said gently. But he switched the subject when Sasuke turned to him, with a challenging expression now. 'You say you don't care if you bring harm to yourself- but from what I heard, you let out an impressive knowledge of vocabulary when you fell just now.'_

_He answered in a dismissive tone. 'I was just upset because the ladder broke. This place's stuff is rubbish- always breaking, and we always have to SHARE. I don't see why they just won't let me practice on a good, solid wall outside.'_

_'Probably because there's that risk that you'll crack your head open,' Yukimura smiled. 'As a matter of fact, you have enough chance of earning that even in here. Don't you need a supervisor to use this room?' He watched the boy's face intently._

_It had first seemed to have wanted to counter Yukimura's comment about the danger of doing it outside, and in the room, but had changed quickly when the last sentence was uttered. When he spoke, there was also something different in his tone. 'You're here- you can stay as a supervisor, can't you?' There was something underneath the layer of obnoxiousness in Sasuke's voice- although Yukimura could not place his finger on what, it sounded sad._

_The other man nodded. 'Sure.' He took a seat along the walls, as Sasuke prepared for his next trick on the beam._

_Ten minutes afterwards, during which Yukimura had clapped and cheered as the boy pulled amazingly flexible stunts up and down all the equipment in the room, he handed the young, sweating child the towel at his feet. 'That was unbelievable,' he commented, as he watched the boy dry his sticky self off. '_You're _unbelievable. You really trained by yourself to do that?'_

_The boy nodded, and glanced up at the smiling, radiant face above him. '…Sorry, making you stay for this…'_

_'Oh, don't worry. It was really fun, and besides, I wouldn't want you hurting yourself because no one else is here.'_

_Sasuke looked back down on the floor. 'Yeah…' He sat, back against the wall, uncorking his water bottle steadily._

_'Not that anyone will care, though.'_

_'Hmm?' Yukimura slid down to crouch next to him, still smiling. 'What was that?'_

_'Nothing…' You wouldn't know, he thought bitterly. No ne ever listens to me, and they're always pressing me in the wrong way._

_How am I supposed to say anything when things are like this?_

_Yukimura stared into the boy's face as he gulped down his water, some drops falling out and dribbling down his chin. When he wiped a finger across it, Sasuke flinched, and lowered his bottle, reddening in embarrassment._

_'What's your name, little boy?' Yukimura asked softly._

_'…Entobi Sasuke.'_

_'Sasuke-kun. I'm Shinda Yukimura, pleased to meet your acquaintance.'_

_'Mm…'_

_'Where are your parents, Sasuke-kun?'_

_He turned away to set his bottle down on the other side of his knees. 'I don't know.'_

_There was a pause. Yukimura looked at the back of his head anxiously._

_'Do you think they-'_

_He was cut off with a harsh laugh. Sasuke had turned back to him. 'You ask the same thing as everyone else. And I'll answer to you the same as I did to them. I don't know if they're dead. I don't know where they are now. I don't know their names, their age, and I don't know what they look like, or what kind of people they are. No good, I'm sure. Because if they were at least decent, then they wouldn't have tried to kill me by throwing me away into the cold like a piece of trash. Yes, I was abandoned- I don't even know if I was named, because I had hardly anything on me. I was probably not even aware of it happening, because what would some dirty baby know about being left in the snow on some road? And I've never had a family. I've never even had any friends, and I'm not going to make any, because I'm going to be shunted from a shit smelling orphanage to the next crap tasting orphanage for the rest of my life.'_

_He was still panting, although whether it was from the former exercise or the speech he himself wasn't sure. He glared at the other man's face next to his, daring him to try and contradict him, or to yell or hit or punish him in any other way if he wanted to._

_What Yukimura gave was a tender, sad smile._

_'Actually, Sasuke-kun, I was going to ask you if you ever thought your parents loved you. Can you please answer me that?'_

_For some reason, Sasuke's throat had tightened at his words, and at the placid look in his eyes as he saw himself in them as a reflection. He soon found his voice, but began to stammer. 'I-I…what-'_

_He shook himself back to his senses and leapt to his feet, glaring down in rage at the man near sitting at his feet. 'What are you talking about?! I've already given you the answer to _that_, haven't I?? Of course they don't love me, of course they hate and loathe and wanted to kill me! I was an unneeded child among them- my mother probably didn't want to give birth to me at all. She probably never wanted to bring me to this world. And why would she? …Everybody else wishes that too.'_

_His pent up anger was unleashing itself from his scarred heart, around his trembling body and out from his unstopping, moving mouth. 'They wish me gone. They probably pray at their beds that God may protect them from me coming even a step closer to them every night. They call me a monster. And I-I…'_

_I'm afraid because I'm starting to believe them._

_As the words pierced through his heart, the memories of his every day of his life came pouring out from within it. The empty space around was suddenly filled with sadness and the old loneliness, as he found himself staring into the uneasy faces of his hating, despising classmates, and with it, those from the children's home, this time including adults._

_'Don't get close to him…he's always alone…'_

_'Urgh! Go away, a person like you shouldn't have any friends!'_

_'No one likes him…I heard his own parents threw him out into the streets when he was a stinking baby.'_

_'Sasuke! Why did you do that, ah- she's bleeding! Look at her Sasuke! This is your fault!'_

_'I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun…but I can't let my friends see you with me. I'm sorry, it's just… you're different to us, and…'_

_'No wonder he doesn't even have a family! Look at him, he's a white ghost!'_

_'Go AWAY, you monster!!!'_

_Sasuke shuddered, trying to rid himself of the glares and words. He suddenly felt cold, and hot, at once- the feeling will not leave him, it was surrounding him, trying to engulf him-_

_But he awoke to reality as he was swallowed by something else, strong limbs circling him and pulling him towards a warm, broad chest. He blinked, and looked up at the man hugging him._

_'What-'_

_The grip on him was tight, almost so that he was suffocating as he drowned in the rising feeling of warmth on his cheeks._

_'What are you doing! Stop it- let go of me!'_

_'No,'_

_The firm answer made him pause, but only for the briefest of moments._

_'No- what do you mean, "No"!! Why- why not!!!'_

_'Because, you looked like you were about to cry,' The words dropped from Yukimura's soft lips, and he held onto the younger boy against him tighter._

_'Cry…? Why would I-ah-'_

_Something wet fell from an eye. He blinked, and another tear dripped onto his cheek as well. Surprised, and not knowing how or why he couldn't stop, the salty tears ran down his face, catching onto Yukimura's shirt and wetting it, too. The warmth enveloped him, and his sobs became harder as he pressed up onto it._

_Yukimura kept his gaze trained below, on Sasuke's hair. 'Sasuke, _I _don't think your mother wanted you to die. If she didn't want you, then why did she hold you until the very end?'_

_Yukimura pressed the child's head lightly against his chest when Sasuke, seeming to have realized what he was doing, tried to raise it again. 'You don't have to show me yourself crying, if you feel that may make yourself feel bad later on. And I don't want you to have any regrets or diffidence in meeting me afterwards, so be sure you leave no resentment there,' His hold on him became slightly lighter as Sasuke obliged, keeping his face against his torso, wet soaking into the shirt. 'I can guarantee you'll feel much better if you let this all out. And if you have anything else you'd like to cry on,' he looked down endearingly at the small boy. 'I promise to be there for you. Sasuke, can you look me in the eye for this?'_

_After a few minutes of settling his nerves, and doing his best in stifling his sobs, Sasuke stepped away, hiccupping, to look into the man's calm, deep eyes. Yukimura's arms, however, did not unwind from around him._

_'Sasuke, do you want to be my son?'_

Yuya frowned. 'What kind of parents leaves their own baby out to die? It was freezing cold, you say?'

Okuni nodded. 'It must have been one of the worst times in the year. But you have to remember- his mother didn't choose abortion. There may have been another reason, but chances are that she still wanted her child to live.'

'Still, she abandoned him,' Yuya argued. 'In this case, Sasuke being with Yukimura seems like the best possible way things could have turned out.' She paused to think. 'Actually…'

'Let's never mind Yukimura-san for now, shall we?' Okuni smiled, not stopping in her own scrubbing. 'He has a few peculiar parts in his own history, some even I wouldn't want to stick my nose into. So we should settle with watching over the two of them from now on, shouldn't we?' She sighed. 'Teen years can be very stressful.'

'As though you would know,' Yuya snorted. 'Alright, look, we're almost done. I just need to brush this place over with a dry towel, and do something about…whatever's on the toilet there. Then maybe we could get a special secret service plumber to fix the water tanks in this hideout, so we don't have to worry about that anymore. Oh, and a new mirror too, if we can wangle it.'

Okuni smiled at her as she rose, wiping her hands on her trousers. 'I'm sure that I can ask Yukimura-san to lend us some money to supply for that. He probably won't be all that pleased, though. Well, if you're sure that you don't need my help anymore, I'm off~!' She flounced out of the room without a second glance, waving a hand back as she walked gracefully through the bathroom doorway.

'Wait! I didn't say you could-' The door closed, and Yuya didn't bother to continue by raising her voice and call her back. Grumbling profanities to herself as she reached for the dry rag, she continued with her business.

Okuni rolled down her sleeves as she headed towards the living room, not denying that she was happy to be out of the stuffy room. It had been a while since a new member had been included and welcomed so warmly- indeed, she could not recall a more interesting event yet. Curiosity bit at her the more she thought of it, and still wondering what kind of new prospect Shiina Yuya could bring in to the gang, she walked into the room to find her cell phone buzzing in her bag.

Striding to reach it quickly, she looked at the caller ID- the words YUKIMURA shone up at her. Sudden realization dawned upon her.

'Hello?'

'Okuni-san? We're going on a raid.'

_The dogs barks echoed around the darkness, and the cloudless night sky was unusually clear, the stars twinkling down at the sleeping inhabitants. Standing alone in the shadow of the skyscrapers, was a brightly lit, old fashioned wooden shop. It had no doors, and the bottom half of the people sitting around the counter was exposed to the world, while the top was covered by a row of plain cloths hanging from the edge of the low roof- a roadside Izakaya._

_Four people currently sat in the high chairs lining up in front of the counter. One was obviously a young man, his shaved head displayed to everybody there as it rested on the long table before them. A small cup was gripped tightly in his hand, and he made the occasional motion of lifting both his head and hand to take a drink, before thunking them back down again. Two of them looked like companions- a woman and a man. Neither was drunk, like the youngster next to them, but seemed as though there were some problems in their relationship- while the woman, who was extremely attractive with her dimples and long, streaming black hair, was trying desperately hard to latch onto the man's arm and stay latched on, the man, ferocious red eyes gleaming under his short dark fringe, seemed to be trying desperately hard to throw her off and ignore her, without letting it show._

_The fourth, at the end of the line, was smiling giddily as he gulped down his drink, a steaming bowl of oden in front of him. It was hard to tell if he was drunk too or not, since it was uncertain if the rosiness in his cheeks was naturally there, or because of the sake. His shoulder length of black hair rested near his chest, bright eyes sharply contrasting with it. He let out a satisfied breath as he drained the last drop, and held it out to the bartender. 'Mister, could I have another cup?'_

_The other man grinned, showing all of his yellow teeth. 'Sure thing. You should finish that dish before it gets cold though.'_

_The customer laughed. 'Thanks. But your sake tastes so good, I completely forgot about it!'_

_The bartender shook his head, smiling as he poured in more into the cup. 'Always about sake, isn't it…just remember to praise my cooking on the way out.'_

_'Will do.'_

_The hand holding the cup of the young man at the other end of the attached table thumped loudly onto it.. He looked up at them from his slouched position, half lidded eyes with red veins showing clearly out of what could be seen by them. 'You's guys,' he slurred, tongue tripping over words, mouth lopsided as he spoke. 'You's lot doesn't ha' anything's to worry about'h in life, duh you?' He pointed at the pair, both staring at him in mild surprise._

_The barman sighed and looked him over with a raised eyebrow. 'I think you had one too many cups there, kid. Go home before you hurt yourself, now-'_

_'Just a moment, Mister,' the first man set his own cup aside, and took a spoonful of the oden in front of him. 'And what,' he asked lightly, sipping the soup. 'Do you presume to know about the hardness of life?' He gave a quick side glance, challenging as his words were._

_When the man didn't answer, and merely poured another cup from his bottle, the other sighed at him. 'Oh, come now. What better way to relieve your fears to a total stranger, if not over a good cup of sake?' He smiled, and popped in some food into his mouth._

_The young man gave a uneven, rising snarl. 'Wha' would ya know? You's probably ha' a cushy home, wiss a waitin' wife an' a warm family to go'th back to. Bu' me, oh, no, I wouldn' ha' stopped there. I cou'a ha' a million's thin's to play aroun' wiss, everythin' at my beckonin', bu' I ha' to throw's 'em all away, jus' for some's stupi' Dad who wouldn' stop getting' on my nerves by showin' off, feelin' like God in human form'th. At the same's time, hewouldn' give a damn abou' me, always going on abou' how he's so busy'th wiss his work an' how I shoul' jus' appease mahself wiss the stuff he bough' for me. Yeah's righ'. An' now look's at me's- Ah'm sleepin' on'th the streets, jus' like he's said I woul', an' I barely got's any money to buy me a drink.'_

_He took a great gulp, his garbled words filling the small open shop, everyone only half listening. 'Wha' did I do wron' to deserve this?' he asked them, voice rising even more in his pressured state. His puffed eyes began to spout waterfalls. 'Ah jus' did wha' I though' was righ', I lef' mah home because I couldn' _stan'_ the thingth mah son-o'-a-bitch daddy di'. He kill' off people, and treat' ith like it wa' shit, wha' was the pro'lem in leavin'? Why does it feel's like the world's most'h stupidest stunt ever?'_

_He let out a low, choking moan, as wet dripped down his cheeks. 'I don'th know wha' tuh do,' he groaned loudly, burying his head in his arms. 'I can' go home, not after all tha' I said. My fazzer woul' turn me out before he coul' see'th mah face. I-I can' bear being alone…Ma'be I really am a - a goo'-for- nothin'…'_

_'Oh, yes, it took you long enough to figure that out,' The woman spoke, gripping her companion's arm tightly. 'What with all the whining, I would never have thought that you would reach the conclusion.'_

_The man's eye twitched. 'Wha' did you say to me, you slut?'_

_The woman bristled. 'Slut?!' she almost screamed at the drunken young man, trying her best to cover herself behind the arm she was grasping. 'What can you say about me, you lowlife?'_

_The other person snorted, and went back to his melodrama. 'I wazn' always jus' some other lo'life'th,' he grunted, taking another heavy drink out of his cup. 'I use' to be in control'th of everything's in mah world, and if I ever met's a whore like'th you I woulda ma'e mince meat…tasty mince meat,' He ogled at her breasts._

_Before the woman could retort, the first man had stepped in. 'No matter how depressed you're feeling, there's no reason to insult a lady like that,' he said firmly. 'That was just childish.'_

_As the woman glanced at him gratefully, the shaven headed youth looked back down at his space of the table. 'I guess you're righ',' he mumbled. 'Ah'm sorry. It's jus' tha'- I never felt so worthless before's in mah life. I never's thought abou' mah meaning of being alive'th…and now I can' fin' anythin' like that, I migh' as well's curl up into a hole and die…'_

_'Yeah, you might as well,' The last man to speak, the one with the fierce eyes and woman hanging on his arm, agreed. Everyone, from drunk to bartender, looked at him in surprise. 'I hate weaklings like you,' he continued, eyes never leaving his own cup as he raised it to his mouth to drink. 'If, from what shit I could gather, you left home because you were sick of your effing father, then I couldn't care less. I don't even know why I'm still here, talking to crap like you.' He glared at the man sitting someway next to him, face red and eyes staring. The woman was gazing at him with an admiring look, while the long haired man had a curious one. The barman kept his eyes to himself, wiping the murky glass with a ragged piece of cloth._

_'But, if you've chosen your path once, then you can't turn back. If you plan on stopping where you are now, then you're free to do just that. Better yet, you could do some world some good and get rid of yourself in any way you like,' he added, ignoring the gasps from the woman next to him and the barman's 'Mister…' he continued as though he had not heard anything. 'Or, you could move that miserable self along to your so called strong decision again, and start to get your "worthless" body back up to the top, if that's what you call it.' He sipped his own drink, concluding his speech._

_The woman was watching him with sparkling eyes. 'That was beautiful, Kyo-san…'_

_'Of course, you'll never get as high as me, being as you are,' he added. 'No pressure.'_

_The man on the far right rolled his eyes. 'Ego much?' he muttered._

_But the drunken man opposite to him was looking as though he had seen the light. 'Yeah,' he said, dazed, but his words were clearer than ever. 'Yeah, that's it!' He stared up into a space on the low ceiling above him, a new expression dawning on him. 'I chose to leave! I chose to defy that old man, carve a new path out by myself! And I chose to follow it!' His head shot back down, eyes, though still looking a bit hazy, fixing onto the man who had snapped some sense into him. 'And I have you to owe for it! I'll tread the new path, at your every beckoning!'_

_'Now, wait a moment-'_

_'Mister! Give us another bottle here, I'm dry!'_

_The barman looked him over anxiously. 'I don't know if that's a good idea, sir,' he trod around the order carefully. 'You look awfully drunk- I'm not sure if you could make your way home safely.'_

_The young customer waved it aside, and flung an arm across the free shoulder of the grumpy looking man next to him. 'Nah, it'll be okay, I'm going with these guys! They'll take care of me, and I'll do every single thing you tell me to!'_

_The woman glanced at her companion's face. 'Actually…we don't have a place to stay ourselves,' She gave a sheepish smile._

_The man on the other side blinked as his arm was shrugged off, along with a well earned glare. 'Oh. You don't?' The three lapsed back into thoughtful silence, trying to figure out what they could do with themselves. The man in the middle was focusing especially on how to get the two off his trail._

_The remaining man smiled and shook his head slightly at them. 'Dear me, such a weird bunch. One moment you're fighting, and in the depth of self pity, the next-'_

_'Hey! Yukimura!'_

_The bartender looked up and chuckled. 'That will be your kid.'_

_The man spun around on his seat, wide eyed, at the same time as a small boy of about eight lifted one of the hanging, flapping cloth with an arm and coming inside. He crossed his arms and glared as the older man made a pathetic attempt to smile it off._

_'Hey there, Sasuke,' He gave a small wave, his hand quickly falling limp back onto the table. 'I- hehe- thought you were asleep.'_

_The glower never left his face. 'I was following you all along. Gods, Yukimura…What would have happened if someone attacked you? You don't even have anything to protect yourselves with…'_

_'And you do, Sasuke?' The man asked in a light tone. Sasuke only gave him a meaningful look, and tugged quite hard on his arm._

_'We're going home _now_, Yukimura.'_

_'Aw, don't say that. Here,' With his chopsticks, he reached into his bowl of oden and holds up a chikuwa. He shoved it into the boy's opening, startled mouth, but he obligingly chewed and swallowed it before starting up his persisting again._

_'Now, Yukimura.'_

_'Oh, alright, alright,' the older man sighed, passing the barman some cash before slipping out of his seat. 'You aren't going to leave until I agree to, are you? And I can't send a little boy home by himself…'_

_'Watch your mouth. I'm _not _a little boy.'_

_'Yes, yes…'_

_The woman turned away from the fuming boy and the smiling man, apparently his father, as he stood up to leave, and saw that her partner, now joined by the still slightly drunk, newly smiling man, was also rising to exit the drinking shop. She hurriedly slipped the man behind the counter her own money, realizing dejectedly that her escort was not about to pay for her either._

_The two other figures looked back in surprise as the remaining three joined them on the road, as cries of 'Come again~' followed them down it. 'Excellent, are we going the same way?' the older man beamed._

_'It appears so,' the woman answered him, glancing around the surrounding, narrower streets leading off towards the darkness around them. They continued in silence, the long haired man's head tilted up towards the sky._

_'The stars sure are beautiful today, aren't they?' he murmured softly._

_His eyes narrowed._

_Ten minutes later, the five walked silently away from the scene of a bunch of had been armed men lying, unmoving on the site they had to pause momentarily at. The last of the screams was still bouncing off the walls somewhere far away._

_The man with the shaven head glanced at the sleek, metallic object in the hands of the long haired man. 'Nice gun,' he commented with a frown._

_Another simple smile. 'Thank you. Good thing you were carrying it with you tonight,' he added to the small boy strolling next to him, patting the top of his pale coloured head._

_The boy squinted up at him, seeming somewhat annoyed with the large hand resting on his crown. 'You were as careless enough to leave it at home,' he muttered, shoving his own, smaller weapon into his pockets, keeping his hands in there too. 'Like I said, heaven knows what you would have done without it.'_

_The man chuckled. 'I'm sure I would have handled myself, though not as well as with your assistance.'_

_The young man was still staring at the naked gun in his hands. 'It's not an Ieyasu brand, is it?' he asked suspiciously._

_The other made a face. 'No way. I know that guy, I almost had him as a top show for my magazine- I decided to slip him off, because no offence, but that man was a bastard. This is a Muramasa brand.'_

_The young man gave a stiff laugh. 'Ieyasu is my father.'_

_'Oh.'_

_'Hidetada-san? But your father's the richest man in this city! You must have been out of your mind to have left home!' the woman exclaimed, staring wide eyed at the son of the great weapon making company owner, Ieyasu. He shrugged._

_'My name's Benitora now, miss. And I think I remember mentioning before, he didn't give a shit about me. That guy only thought about the expansion of his business, and probably thought that a child could be raised by supplying sweets and toys for him once a week. Of course, he definitely thought that the lives of people his products had taken were necessary for the good of his companies. Could you blame me?'_

_The woman took in his slight figure quickly, and turned away to face the front. 'No,' she mused, a hint of approvance in her voice. 'I rather think not.'_

_'That was some nifty work with those guys, by the way,' he had turned back to the man with the kid. 'You didn't, though…did you?' He glanced back, looking worried._

_The man caught what he was concerned over. 'No, don't worry, I haven't,' he assured him. 'They're still breathing.'_

_'Well, even if they weren't, it'll still be their fault…if they hadn't jumped us like that, we wouldn't have gone so hard on them,' stated the kid._

_The other man himself exhaled, and gave an uneasy smile. 'How did you do that? With a gun.'_

_He was rewarded a wink. 'If you know some tricks as well as I do, then using a gun to simply knock them out is no dream.'_

_'Uh-huh.' He did not question why his child was also holding one._

_The silence refilled the clear night sky above them; the seconds ticked by._

_'I'm Shinda Yukimura, by the way,' Yukimura stated cheerfully._

_'…Entobi Sasuke.'_

_The woman batted her eyes. 'My name's Ikumo Okuni, and this is my partner in crime-'_

_'Kigan Kyo,' came the swift, deep voice. He let his intense gaze fall on an awed Okuni. Her reaction to him only just showed how rare it was for him to speak. 'And I'm not your "partner in crime".'_

_'I'm Benitora!' he cried._

_'Do you happen to have a short term memory? You told us all already.'_

_'Yeah, but being the only one without an introduction made me feel lonely…'_

_Yukimura piped up after that. '…Did you guys say that you didn't have anywhere to stay? I know a good place. We've kept it boarded up, and have never really used it before, but it's appropriate…it's very near the river, you know…'_

_His chattering trailed after the group as they walked down the wide street, the flickering lamplights leading them towards an unseen, looming form of a shadow hidden behind all the buildings till they got there. It funnily resembled a bridge of some sort._

_The stars twinkled heavenly down at the still merrily lit, bright drinking shop standing forlornly at the side of the road. The keeper of it was singing rather loudly, twirling his cutting knife expertly between his fingers, tidying up the cups and plates, and the one heavy bowl with his free hand._

_'It's time for the older to retire to the night, of the darkened world, and leave the youngsters as the new leaders of the bright…'_

_Laughing a little as he thought of how much the lyrics fit the lines of reality, he turned off the vividly shining lamps, but his strong, deep voice sounded across the night in the city._

* * *

Hurrah! That was chapter five!

…Wow, I think this one was my lamest yet…and it took me so much longer to finish it too! So this is what happens when you don't even have the slightest clue of what will happen…

Basically this was a chapter of flashbacks. I don't really like them much, especially the type that has ~-Flashback-~, ~-End of Flashback-~ tagged at the head and tail of them (they're kinda annoying…) but the problem is, you don't exactly know what they are unless you have those tags. Geez. I originally planned this chapter to be one about the girls' "secret talk" or something (O_o) but I figured this way will be more interesting than that. Not that it is, so much.

Well, at least we know a bit more of the characters, except for Yuya, now. Yes, Benitora's dad is a high classed gangster himself, although he's just an ordinary rich owner of some weapon making factories to the public eye. I think I'll explain more about him in the story later. Yes, that one with Okuni and Kyo was about their second meeting, or something like that. I didn't quite know how to make their first interesting, or exactly what happened- maybe Okuni was saved by Kyo like Yuya, but really, it sounds a bit cliché. The whole meet a gang in the alleys, get either saved by them or beat them up thing is cliché. I know I can think of something else, but my mind is very blank (I blame the whole summer school thing- the people there are much nicer than I expected, so I might be enjoying myself a _little _bit, but I still have two more weeks before I can hop onto an airplane and fly off to who knows where…ugh). Is it possible if I could ask a friend here on , if they could write one up for fun? If they think this thing is interesting enough, of course. And if they like Kyo and Okuni together very much. Whatever they do, I'm sure I will be very pleased, just because they held so much interest in this utterly prizeless request. Just saying.

And, _yes_, I know that I probably made Yukimura's and Sasuke's flashback so much longer than the others. But not only is it because it's two people (think Kyo and Okuni), it's because I love them so much. Therefore, I will now write probably a paragraph or two on that pairing, and the orphanage thing I got the idea from. It was actually from something I saw on the news- it's quite sad, really.

Yeah, Mizuki. I think that was her name. That girl that Yukimura loved when he was like, seventeen in the sidestory of the manga? Apparently some time after he got back from Uesugi. Anyway, I thought I should include her as the protector of the children, and since I remember something about her dad being missing, or dead, from being a wandering samurai, I thought to have him make her give up school after junior high and go work off on her own. Quite a lot of this happen in real life, and not really in poor places (if you get my gist)- in normal, "rich" cities like in the U.S and Tokyo itself. Another thing from the news. I believe is very unfair, because the child has disabilities, or they don't have enough money, or something like that. I'm not an exceptionally charitable person, but even I, being in the final year of middle school myself, have some decency to pity the unfortunate. If they can't, for some reason, go to school, then the parents should really do something about it. Whatever happened, it is their problem, so they should turn for help for at least a support for their child's education. The children should not be the one to take the blunt of their actions.

I'm not quite sure about how old you have to be in order to adopt a child, but I'm guessing that Yukimura is nineteen or so in this one. Most orphanages are unable to be provided with enough money to build new rooms by the government, so Sasuke should consider himself very lucky that this one had a gymnastics room. Orphanages are, often, very cramped, making it difficult for the caretakers to sort out problems with the children there. It should also be very rowdy, making the rooms difficult to study in. If they managed to build a wide spaced home with many rooms, due to lack of money again, the concrete floors may only be covered with a thin sheet of carpet, making it dangerous if the children fell and hit their heads, and it should be very cold in the winter as the concrete would do nothing much to reject the freezingness, and possibly make it worse. In the particular new orphanage the news people went to, it was actually an old restaurant that closed down, and some refurnishing had taken place to make it a bit better for the children. It is quieter, as it is much spacious, but it still leaves the problem about the kids.

The image of Sasuke against the wall, as a caretaker interrogated him popped into my head when I thought of "orphanage". It actually came from _another_ news about orphanages, where the caretakers are so busy that they don't have enough time to tend to the children's needs. There was one scene in which they showed a little boy being made to stand against the wall outside, the caretaker asking something about why he did something bad and I don't think he answered. He just kind of sauntered off, leaving the caretaker to try and call him back, but he didn't even turned. Shows how screwed up the orphanage systems can be, and it's the children who has to take in the worst part about it. I didn't quite consider myself the type to be passionate over children until quite recently, and only if they were 'fictional', but I do feel a tiny bit attached to them, although my sister consistently proves me wrong in her 'special' case (then again, she is only two years younger than me- not exactly the 'small' kids who don't belong to my family tree that I am much more fond of. In an innocent way, I mean. Why are you looking at me like that?)

Hmm, that was three paragraphs. I have a habit of dragging things, don't I. I'm sorry if the slanted words caused eye ache and irritation throughout the whole chapter. I'm very thankful that you went through it, though. Oh, yeah, here's the vocabulary thing (okay, even _I'm_ starting to consider it annoying. I tried to avoid it the best I could this time, but it just couldn't be helped.)

_Izakaya_ (居酒屋　いざかや) Just a little shop you can drink sake and eat some old fashioned, Japanese types dish in (like oden). I guess you could call it a food cart, with a roof and chairs and a counter to eat at. Way back, they used to dot around random streets- I think it's more romantic if it was near a harbour, but that's only me- to serve some passerbys if they wanted to stop a while, but most of the people in that time visiting all knew each other from childhood. Nowadays, though, strangers are just strangers in the big, bustling city, although some good sensed shops copy this style, only on a much larger scale. I probably sound like an old geezer, but I do love the atmosphere of traditional Japanese restaurants…ahem.

_Oden _(おでん) A rather simple (in my opinion) Japanese dish. Usually it's just some broth with a bunch of other stuff, such as vegetables, in it, but it also has these things called konyaku (こんにゃく) which is sort of a jelly textured, square dumpling like food made out of rice, I think. Then there's the chikuwas, which I'm getting to right now. Anyway, it's not exactly my own favourite dish, but I recommend it to anyone who's interested.

Chikuwa (ちくわ) They're these tube like, soft food which I am quite sure are made from fish. The tips are white, but the middle bits are golden brown. They're okay for a snack, I think.

Yeah, I'm getting really bored with writing all these. I just can't refrain myself from writing so long. You know, the drunken Benitora speech drove even me crazy…I'd hate to see how you readers will cope with it. Oh, god, I should really get to sleep…

I also have two more stories starting, both YukimuraxSasuke. One is rather explicit, and I am trying to end in a oneshot, the other is much softer, but it is quite angsty. I tried to stop it in a oneshot at first, but good grief, I just cannot help but end up writing long ones…I have two more in my head which I haven't started yet, but I shall try and prevent my tired, sleepless self from juggling three hundred tasks at once. I'm the type that can only handle one action at a time. My stories seem to be swaying from humor to seriousness, and a little less action, seeing as I am very bad at that. Anyone who's feeling a little seasick from all the swinging say 'I'. The next chapter would UNMISTAKEABLY take a very long time- I am even less prepared for this one, and it's all kapow, and haiyah, and what the hell am I talking about. You'll see, hopefully.

I am also considering collecting up the flashbacks from this chapter, add a bit more to each one of them and make them up as one story. Like a side one, from this Gang of the City Samurai (I am going to be forever wishing I had thought up a better title…but my mum was looking at the time, and telling me to hurry up already, so I just randomly typed it up…please, FF people, can I change it?). Well, that's if I'm allowed to. I should really get going to sleep now.

Thank you, v. see. v, and Maya-chan2007 for Akari's description! Although I don't think s/he will be coming out for a while yet, I'll make sure your kindness does not go to waste. Thanks again to reviewers, I'm pleased that the last chapter seemed to turn out quite well, and I hope you guys continue reading this story!

…Yet, I still sometimes feel that my review page is feeling a bit lonely. REVIEWS PLEASE!!!

By the way, if anybody is interested in reading – or watching – some stuff that I thought is connected to orphaned children and such, I suggest the book "Bud, not Buddy" and the film "Pictures of Hollis Woods". That last one gave a depressed me some insight into the future. There is also a Japanese drama called "Ryuusei no Kizuna" which isn't really about orphanages, but it's still VERY fun to watch. It's about these three kids whose parents got killed while they snuck out to go star gaze or something, and their very humorous story fourteen years later when they try to catch the criminal. Everything ends safely and happily (or as happy as three kids who found out that the person who killed their parents was their…never mind), so I REALLY recommend you watch this.


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